Self-Advocates

Self-advocacy is about people with disabilities speaking up for themselves. It means that although a person with a disability may call upon the support of others, the individual is entitled to be in control of their own resources and how they are directed. It is about having the right to make life decisions without undue influence or control by others.

What Disabled People Can Do
By Lois G.

There is a saying that disabled people can do just as much as anyone else. Right now we are trying to stand up for ourselves. We would like to be given a chance to prove that we can make it in the world - get jobs, get married, get places of our own to live and budget our money. There are quite a lot of us out now in the community and we’re doing great!

A lot of us have some good ideas but don’t get to say them. We would like to be seen and heard at the same time for who we are. People should look at us not for what disability we have, but for who we are.

Back when I was growing up - about thirty years ago, people in society were not too sure about people with disabilities. Now people have a lot more information on people with disabilities, and are leaning how to deal with it. People have come a long way in what they think and what they do.