Importance of Self-advocacy

What is self-advocacy?

According to Wrightslaw, special education law and advocacy group, self-advocacy is learning how to speak up for yourself, making your own decisions about your own life and knowing your rights and responsibilities.

It is important to learn self-advocacy, in other words speak up for yourself, as it helps you to know what you need in order to succeed and be able to communicate that to others so that you may get the support you need.

A scenario:

Let's say you struggle with writing and your English class requires that you take alot of notes for homework. You should speak to your teacher to let them know of the difficulty you are having and ask for help. So in this case, you speak to your teacher and ask to use note-taking app. If the teacher agrees then the problem is solved. If the teacher does not agree, self-advocay means that you speak to others, perhaps the special education case manager who will be able to help you. In other words, do not give up, if at first you don't succeed. Self-Advocate!