Park Forest Middle School

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Park Forest Middle School

• Self-Advocacy and
• Self-Determination

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Do You Know Yourself?

• What are your strengths? What do you do well?
• How do you learn?
• What do you need to be able to learn?

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What is Self-Advocacy?

• Speaking up for yourself
• Taking responsibility for what you want
• Starts by knowing yourself, how you learn and how
  you do things
• Knowing what you need and being able to ask for it

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Who Are Self-Advocates

• People that learn or do things differently
• People that can be role models
• Volunteers
• Help others speak up for themselves

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What Stops You From Being Your Own Advocate?

• Feeling quiet and too shy to speak
• Feeling frustrated and mad
• Feeling like I dont know what to do
• Feeling afraid of saying the wrong thing
• Not knowing how someone else might react
• Wanting to be nice to everybody
• Not wanting to cause a problem
• Not wanting to draw attention to myself
• Thinking that no one will understand me

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What Stops You From Being Your Own Advocate?

• Figure out what stops you from being your own
  advocate
• Come up with ways to overcome it

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Can Self-Advocacy Make A Difference?

• Examples of changes made by self-advocates
• Living at home
• Transportation
• School classes

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How To Be A Self-Advocate

• You dont need a title
• Respect others
• Have a voice and speak up
• Be positive

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How To Be A Self-Advocate

• Listen to the ideas of others
• Be truthful
• Ask for help when you need help
• Reach for your dream
• Stand up for your legal rights

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Why You Should Be A Self-Advocate

• It helps you to protect your rights.
• You can prepare for your future.
• You can help others to be
• self-advocates too.

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Is Attitude Important in Self-Advocacy?

• Yes
• Positive attitudes and beliefs are as important
  as skills.
• You are worth advocating for.
• Self-advocacy means taking responsibility for
  what you want.

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Changing Attitudes

• Many people have the WRONG ideas about people
  that learn or do things differently.
• We are here to change some of those ideas.
• We will share some of the WRONG ideas people have
  and show you the RIGHT ideas.

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Changing Attitudes

• WRONG WAY
• Just because you learn or do things differently
  people dont like you judge you.
• 2. Because I have different abilities, I cant
  help.

• RIGHT WAY
• Introduce yourself. Ask if you can be their
  friend and try to be friends
• 2. People with different abilities can be
  courteous. They can help. They can be useful.

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Changing Attitudes

• WRONG WAY
• 3. People with different abilities cant
  participate in sports.
• 4. People that learn or do things differently
  pick on others. They are mean.

• RIGHT WAY
• They can. They can be talented in sports. They
  can have good sportsmanship.
• 4. Not true. They can be helpful with others.

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Changing Attitudes

• WRONG WAY
• 5. People that learn or do things differently
  cant stand up for themselves.
• 6. People with different abilities are not that
  smart or strong.

• RIGHT WAY
• People with different abilities can speak for
  themselves. They can be honest, raise their
  voice and stand up for themselves.
• 6. People that learn or do things differently can
  be smart. They can have willpower and can still
  work hard.

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What Are Accommodations?

• Things that help you learn or accomplish what you
  are trying to do
• Examples of accommodations
• Sitting in the front of the class
• Extra time on tests
• Larger print
• Pictures
• Having instructions written instead of spoken
• Having instructions spoken instead of written
• Wheelchair or walker

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What is Self-Determination?

• Having control over those parts of life that are
  important to YOU

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Why Is Self-Determination Important?

• To you
• You can choose who your friends are.
• You have the right to be heard. You have
  feelings.

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Why is Self-Determination Important?

• To people around you
• You and your family can choose how
• you live your life.
• Friends and family can help you make choices and
  be a good self-advocate.

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What Does It Mean To Have Self-Determination?

• You should be treated like anybody else. You
  should not be treated differently because you
  learn or do things differently.
• As you make more choices and take greater control
  of your life you take on more responsibilities.

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What Does It Mean To Have Self-Determination?

• Everyone gets help from others.
• You need to give help to others.

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Why Is Contributing A Part Of Self-Determination?

• Why should we contribute?
• Contributing or volunteering makes us feel like a
  part of something.
• Contributing helps us figure out who we are and
  what is important to us.

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Why Is Contributing A Part Of Self-Determination?

• Everyone can contribute to their community.
• You can contribute your time and skills as well
  as what you think and feel.

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How Can You Contribute?

• Doing chores around your house
• Helping others
• Mowing grass
• Babysitting
• Carrying in groceries
• Listen to a friends problem
• Getting involved in school activities
• Helping others with their homework

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How Can You Show Self-Determination?

• Make choices for yourself

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How Can You Show Self-Determination?

• Direct your own IEP

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How Can You Show Self-Determination?

• Ask for what you need that would make things
  easier for you
• Learn to talk about things you do well and things
  you like to do

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Why Is It Important To Try (even if it doesnt
work)?

• If at first you dont succeed, try, try again
• Sometimes we learn by fixing the mistakes we made.