Self-advocacy is the ability to speak up for yourself or on the behalf of someone else or for a cause. It is also the ability to know your rights and responsibilities and to reach out to others when you need help or support. When you self-advocate you have the ability to be assertive as well as negotiate for one’s self, others, or for a cause.
Teaching our students to self-advocate during community outings is an important skill to get their needs met.
How many times a day do you find yourself saying such things as “listen carefully” or “pay attention”? It is these requests that we give our students on a daily basis. However, many times we have yet to actually stop and explain to the child our expectations to these requests. When a student doesn’t follow our expectations we often feel frustrated or annoyed and assume they aren’t being a good listener when in reality they may not know you want them to stop fidgeting with their hands, or to make more eye contact to show with their body that they are actively listening. We have to teach whole body listening.