Self-Advocacy

Self-advocacy is a difficult concept to operationalize due to its evolving nature and many elaborate parts. To many individuals, self-advocacy is a journey of personal identity that involves values and viewpoints, the right to political power through knowing and implementation of rights, and the right to self-determination including decision making and setting goals. Self-advocacy can simply include any act, verbal or written, which is intended to outline and explain a particular problem an individual is confronting, or it can include connecting with like-minded persons to achieve a common goal. To be a self-advocate means a person is accepting the responsibility to educate himself or herself on a specific topic with the sole purpose of making his/her voice heard and achieving agency in his or her ...