Speaking Up: The Power of Self-Advocacy

What is Self-Advocacy?

Self-advocacy is the ability to speak up for yourself and communicate your own needs, desires, and opinions. Being able to self-advocate empowers individuals to be heard, valued, and understood. For people with disabilities it is the most crucial tool for achieving effective communication, autonomy, and inclusivity.

The Role of Speech Pathology in Developing Self-Advocacy Skills

Working with clients with disabilities as well as neurodivergent clients, including autistic, ADHD and dyslexic individuals, I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of developing self-advocacy skills. For these individuals, self-advocacy involves expressing their unique challenges and needs, participating in decision-making processes, and actively advocating for appropriate accommodations and support. Being able to self-advocate effectively not only boosts confidence, it leads to increased independence and satisfaction across all areas of life.

Self-advocacy skills can be developed through providing support in the following areas:

Encouraging a Strong Sense of Identity and Self Awareness

To effectively self-advocate, it’s crucial to understand yourself—who you are, what matters to you and what you need to succeed. Speech pathologists play a key role in this process by helping individuals identify their strengths, interests, needs and areas they would like to improve. By gaining a clear understanding of their own needs and preferences, individuals become more skilled at advocating for themselves across different environments.

When working with my clients, I always emphasise that everyone’s brain is unique, leading to different preferences and needs for comfort and success. I support my clients to understand and acknowledge that these individual differences are key to helping each person thrive.

Understanding Accomodations

Understanding accommodations at work or school is essential for creating an inclusive and supportive environment for people with different learning needs including neurodivergent individuals. Accommodations are adjustments or modifications that enable people to perform their tasks effectively and participate fully in their educational or professional settings. These can range from physical changes, like accessible workspaces or assistive technology, to procedural adjustments, such as flexible deadlines or alternative testing formats. It may also include allowing a person with noise sensitivity to wear headphones or earplugs or allowing students to indicate when they need an additional break during lesson times.

Speech pathologists can support individuals to know and communicate their own unique accommodation needs which is vital for creating an inclusive environment. It ensures that schools and employers can provide the right support and helps everyone succeed by addressing individual needs and promoting equal opportunities.

Supporting Communication

Effective communication is key to self-advocacy. Speech pathologists can support individuals enhance both verbal and nonverbal communication skills, making it easier for them to express their thoughts and needs clearly. 

Role play can be an effective way to allow individuals practice verbal communication in different scenarios. This hands-on approach helps them to develop problem solving skills and build confidence in their ability to advocate for themselves.

Nonverbal communication supports can include writing letters or emails to request accommodations or creating visuals such as a cue card to indicate when an individual needs help or a break.

Developing Problem Solving Skills

Self-advocacy is essential for effective problem solving. Speech pathologists play a key role in teaching techniques that help individuals overcome communication barriers and navigate challenges. Engaging in real-life scenarios is one of the best ways to develop these problem solving skills. Through speech pathology, individuals can learn to think critically and make informed decisions, which enhances their ability to find solutions and advocate for themselves in various situations.

Collaborating with Support Systems

Families and educators play a crucial role in fostering self-advocacy skills in children and teenagers. Typically with neurodivergent children, parents will advocate on their behalf for their supports and needs. While this is really important, it’s also crucial to teach children how to advocate for themselves from a young age. Parents and educators can model these skills and encourage children to seek help when need, all while creating a supportive environment free from judgment. 

Involving school-aged children and teenagers in their Individualised Education Plan (IEP) process can also provide students with valuable practice in advocating for their needs within a supportive setting.  Meanwhile, parents can actively support this development by being involved in their child's advocacy efforts, modelling assertive behaviour, and creating a safe space for open communication. Together, these efforts help reinforce the student’s ability to express their needs confidently and effectively.