On Self-Advocacy
April 3rd, 2007Ria Strong talked about self-advocacy at our Brain Power event, Brain Injury Awareness Week 2006.
Brain Injury Matters is a “self-advocacy” organisation. What does that mean?.
Self Advocacy is about speaking up for yourself, and standing up for rights—your rights, and the rights of other people with disabilities.
It’s about making real choices,learning new skills, and supporting each other.
For some of us, self-advocacy means having more control in our own lives. For some of us, it means working to change things in the community (like a building we can’t get into). For some, it means having a say on bigger issues (like how disability services work, or government policy). For some of us, it means all those
things.
There is power in numbers. Together we are stronger. We all have different skills and experiences, and we can all help each other. Everyone has something to share (even if it’s hard for them, or others, to see what it is).
When we get involved in self advocacy, our lives often change in many ways. We become more confident, and feel better about ourselves. We make new friends.