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Best Practices of Self-Advocacy | Self-Advocacy in the Classroom
At a Glance
Respect for Needs: Emphasizes respecting students' needs, even when immediate solutions aren't available, ensuring students feel heard and validated in expressing their needs.
Accepting Disagreement: Highlights the importance of accepting and respecting differing opinions as a core aspect of self-advocacy, teaching students that it’s normal and healthy to have differing viewpoints and that this does not diminish the validity of their own perspectives.
Understanding Self-Advocacy as a Process: Discusses the importance of recognizing that self-advocacy is an ongoing skill development process, where students might need to experiment and change tactics as they learn more about their own needs and how to effectively articulate and address them.
Welcome back to the final section (for now!) of our Self-Advocacy series, in which we are focusing on how to teach self-advocacy skills in the classroom and create an environment that encourages the practice of self-advocacy.
In Part 1 we honed in on how we define self-advocacy for the purposes of developing that skillset, in Part 2 we took a closer look at some examples of self-advocacy in the classroom, and in Part 3 we shared some strategies for teaching self-advocacy skills.
In Part 4 we are focusing on some best practices we can employ to help foster an environment that feels safe to practice self-advocacy skills. So let’s take a look at some principles and practices!
Needs should be respected even if we can’t immediately meet them.
One point of tension when it comes to practicing self-advocacy skills is that we’re not always equipped to meet a particular need exactly when it is expressed. No matter how much we prepare it will happen sometimes!
The key in those situations isn’t to always be ready for every possibility, but to make sure we acknowledge the importance and validity of the need, and that it’s something we also want to address when we are able to.
It’s helpful both to practice patience when expressing a need and to have the reinforcement that our needs are important even if we can’t get help right away.
It’s OK to disagree.
As we have discussed in earlier parts of this series, one component of self-advocacy is recognizing that our opinions have value because they are a part of us, and we have value. Of course by virtue of everyone having opinions not everyone will always agree.
When disagreements flare up it is worth reinforcing this ethos to reinforce that it our opinions are worth expressing when we want to express them.
We do want to emphasize here that having opinions does not excuse cruel behavior, and that you may need to exercise your best judgment in that regard.
Sometimes figuring out our needs is a process.
One situation that teachers might understandably find frustrating is making an effort to meet a student’s need, only for the student to decide they need something else soon after. This frustration is understandable, as obviously we want to resolve issues as effectively as we can.
But it’s important to remember in those moments that self-advocacy is a skill to be practiced, and one of those skills is determining one’s own needs.
Put another way, sometimes we don’t know exactly what’s wrong, or exactly what we need to feel productive, and in those situations it’s OK to try a few different things! So just remember that it’s OK to be frustrated with the process, but it’s still the process!
Not sharing is also a choice and can be respected.
One paradox of encouraging self-advocacy is that sometimes individuals decide the best option for themselves in the moment is to not share how they are feeling or what they need.
While we should always support our students in support of self-advocacy, part of that support is not pushing too hard when someone does not feel ready!
One good alternative we can consider when actively practicing self-advocacy is to encourage some reflection or even discussion of why not sharing feels most appropriate in that moment, and whether it was ultimately helpful in meeting their needs.
Remember we are working together!
As we noted in talking about how our understanding of our own needs can change over time, sometimes it can be frustrating as the teacher or professional trying to meet those needs.
At the most frustrating times there might even be a risk of losing the plot and letting our frustration lead the conversation. But it’s crucial we remember the harm we can do to students in those situations, particularly if we are using terms like “manipulative,” “attention-seeking,” or “disruptive.”
When we are feeling that frustration, it’s important to do our best to remember that we are a team, and in particular a team that’s meant to be working toward meeting our students’ needs and goals!
Conclusion
With that we are wrapping up with our Self-Advocacy Series for now, but if you are interested in more then we would love to hear from you!
Want to see more focus on classroom techniques? A new series from the perspective of self-advocates? Something else entirely?
Let us know what you’re thinking at hello@autismgrownup.com , and we will be back next week with our next series focused on executive functioning.
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