Tips for being a strategic self-advocate

There are many ways to become an effective self-advocate, and anyone can do it. If you’re talking to parents or your school, check out our pages on those topics:

• Talking to parents/adults
• Talking to your school
• Talking to an employer

But what if you’re writing to a government official or wanting to talk to an organization?  The following tools can help you get started on becoming an advocate for yourself.

What are you advocating about?

Before you start, clearly identify the issue you want to address. Examples can include:

• Discrimination
• Being excluded from decisions or conversations that are about you/your health
• Health care needs
• School needs
• More services and supports

It’s important to educate yourself on the issue and the specific challenges you’re facing. Understanding your rights related to the issue will help you be a strong self-advocate. Once you understand your rights and identify the issue, you’re ready to create a self-advocacy plan.

Creating a self-advocacy plan

A self-advocacy plan will help you stay organized and keep track of progress you make. Here are some steps you can take when it’s time to build your advocacy plan.

Ask for support from friends and family

Just because you’re advocating for yourself doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone. The support of family and friends can go a long way. They can help by making calls, contributing advocacy ideas, and giving feedback.

Express yourself in a clear, calm manner

Talking about the challenges you face can be overwhelming. It can also make some people feel angry or frustrated. Advocacy and talking to others can also be incredibly frustrating. But if you’re communicating using angry words or a frustrated tone of voice, you may not get very far in advocating for your needs.

By expressing yourself calmly and clearly, you will have a better chance of being heard and getting to engage in discussion. Practice what you’re going to say to whomever you’re speaking to and ask someone to listen and provide feedback. Remember, try not to take the feedback personally. If you’re sending a letter or email, ask someone to read it for you before you send it. If you don’t have someone to read it, you can use spell check on your computer to make sure all the spelling and grammar is correct.

Identify who you need to contact about the issue

You need to advocate to the right people. This could include:

• Organization representatives
• The Human Rights Commission
• Members of the government

Ask parents or guardians to help research the best person to reach out to if you aren’t sure.

Take notes and keep good records

The best way to track your progress and the responses you receive is to keep accurate records. You can do this by:

• Saving all emails and letters on your computer or in a file folder.
• Taking notes during spoken conversations. You may want to have someone else take notes for you if you find it hard to write and talk at the same time. And if you do want to write and talk, don’t be afraid to ask people to speak slower or take your time writing.
• Use the voice recorder on your phone when speaking with someone in person. There are even ways to record phone calls on smartphones. Just make sure that you tell the person the call is being recorded for accurate record keeping.

Do your research

You may be advocating on a topic like access to education. If you are, there may be reports and research studies that have information to strengthen your position and provide facts to people–especially if they aren’t familiar with what you’re advocating about. However, if you do use facts and figures, make sure they’re coming from a reliable place.