Why Self-Advocacy Matters When You Leave School

5/10/22

Topics for Today:

• Becoming an Adult: Control and Responsibility

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• Self-Determination: Steering Your Own Life

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• Disability Laws: How to Use Them After High School

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• Self-Advocacy: Live the Life You Want.

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Becoming an Adult: �Control and Responsibility

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Being an Adult Means:

• Running a House
• Deciding where you want to live
• Doing chores in your house
• Paying your bills
• Transportation
• Going to and from places freely
• Finding and Keeping a Job
• Doing your job as independently as possible
• Deciding what career path you want to follow
• Budgeting your own money

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• Developing your own social relationships
• Interacting with people around you in ways that make you comfortable
• Dating people and doing things you agree on that you enjoy, including being intimate

Self-Determination: �Steering Your Own Life

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Self-Determination Means:

• YOU are the boss of your own life:
• Make decisions about your life
• Plan your own future
• Make choices
• Have the final say over things
• Control how money is spent to get the supports you need.
• Choose to be as involved in your community as you want, and you can get the support you need to make it happen
• YOU take responsibility for the decisions you make.

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What Does It Look Like?

• Here are some examples of what people who are the boss of their own lives must be responsible for:
• Staying healthy and safe.
• Living within your monthly budget.
• Making the right choices for your life.
• Learning from your own mistakes.
• When you are the boss of your own life, you have control of a lot of things.
• When you are in control, you take responsibility for what you do.
• You are responsible for all the choices you make.

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Self Determination in Your Individualized Service Plan (ISP)

• They will ask what a Meaningful Day looks like to you. This includes:
• Choices
• Activities
• Work
• Health
• Your day should be the highway toward your vision.

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Disability Laws in Postsecondary Education

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Post-secondary Schools are Not Allowed To:

• Discriminate based on disability. This includes:

a. Admitting only a certain number of students with disabilities.

b. Asking if an applicant has a disability before they are admitted.

c. Excluding a student from a class just because of their disability.

d. Counseling a student toward a more restrictive career because of their disability.

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Section 504 & ADA in College:

• Any school that receives Federal monies must comply with Section 504 & ADA Regulations
• If you are a student with a disability, you are entitled to receive accommodations. Ask for what you need.
• Examples of Accommodations:
• Textbooks in an alternative format (Braille, PDF, Audio
• Sign language interpreters
• Note takers
• Extra time for assignments or testing
• Private testing areas
• Alternative test formats
• Ability to sit in certain places in the classroom
• Tutoring and Many others
• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ARRANGING THE SERVICES NOW!

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A Word of Advice Before Moving on to College:

• You need to make sure that you pick the school that is right for you. Visit the school. Talk to the people in the program you want to take and ask them questions.
• Student Loans ARE NOT FREE MONEY:
• YOU are required to pay loans back with interest, which means you will pay more money than you are getting.
• Be very careful when you take out loans for education, or you could end up in a lot of debt that is hard to get out of.
• [Carefully read any documents or have someone with you who can help you understand them BEFORE signing them.
• Remember, you are the one responsible for obtaining the services you need. You need to contact the school, find out about the special services department and arrange for the services.

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Getting a Job: �Steps to Success

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Questions to Think About:

• What kind of job I actually want?
• What are my strengths?
• How do I initiate any meetings with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation or even employers?
• How do I seek out and complete applications?
• How do I write a resume in order to show my skills to employers
• How can I learn to give a confident interview where you explain to employers why you are a good fit for the job

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Disclosure of a Disability:

• Remember, you don’t have to tell the person who is interviewing you about your disability. It is YOUR choice.
• They cannot ask you questions about your disability. It is illegal.
• If you think they will notice it or you want to talk about it, TALK ABOUT YOUR SKILLS THAT WILL HELP YOU DO THE JOB FIRST!
• Afterwards, you can talk about what accommodations you will need to do the job. Remember, the accommodations have to be made under the law.
• Remember, they might not have personal experience, so taking initiative and talking about your skills and needs will help them feel more comfortable.

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ADA on the Job:�Rights & Responsibilities

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Requesting Accommodations:

• Everyone needs some help to be good at their job.
• The employee must ask for an accommodation from their supervisor.
• Employers have a legal obligation to help you.
• The employer then gathers information about what you need.
• This might mean talking with you, but will also involve trying to find out what the limitation is and how to solve it.
• Make sure you come prepared with ideas.
• The employer will attempt to implement the accommodation requested.
• Make sure that they have feedback about how your accommodation is working out.
• If your accommodations need to be changed, do not be afraid to ask!

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The Interactive Process �by the Job Accommodation Network:

• Online tool for talking to employers about needs in the workplace:
• Disability and Accommodation library for employers, employees and others.
• https://askjan.org/
• JAN Counselors are also available via phone:
• Contact Information: 800-526-7234 (Voice)

877-781-9403 (TTY)

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Self-Advocacy �The Key to Living the Life You Want

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What is Self Advocacy?

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• The act or process of supporting a cause of proposal

~ Meriam-Webster Dictionary

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• Support of an idea or a way of doing something

~ Cambridge English Dictionary

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• The action of representing oneself or one’s views or interests

~ Oxford English Dictionary

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Who Can I Ask for Help Advocating?

Someone Who:

• Is in your corner
• You feel safe with
• Knows you very well
• Believes in your competency
• Knows your strengths and weaknesses

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The Most Important Thing:

Knowing Yourself

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Knowing yourself

• Talents, hobbies and interest
• Strengths and gifts
• Preferences
• What motivates you

Vision for your Life (Long range plan)

• Successful achievement
• Progress made
• Barriers to work through

Remember:

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• YOU know yourself best
• You can change your accommodations as needed
• You don’t have to have all the answers
• You can always ask for help from family and friends.
• Having support is NOT a bad thing, and it does not make you any less independent

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Your best advocate is YOU!!!

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But wait! I want chances to practice self-advocacy and learn more!

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Overview of the DDC’s Advocate Leadership Academy

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What is the Academy

• A leadership development class to build effective advocate leaders in local communities throughout New Mexico.
• The Academy runs for 12 weeks in the spring and fall on Wednesday afternoons for 2 hours
• New attendees are paired with an experienced advocate as a mentor
• Currently, the Academy is being held on Zoom

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What Will You Learn?

• Gain insights into yourself (strengths)
• Network and collaborate with mentors
• Gain awareness about local and statewide issues facing people with disabilities
• Feel empowered to work to take steps to improve life in your community

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Who Can Attend?

• Person with disabilities or a family member
• New Mexico resident (Statewide)
• Desires to improve their leadership skills
• Selected by DDC Staff to be a Fellow in the Academy

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�What We Mean By Leadership

– "Leadership is the ability to not only understand and utilize your innate talents, but to also effectively leverage the natural strengths of your team to accomplish the mission. There is no one-size fits all approach, answer key or formula to leadership. Leadership should be the humble, authentic expression of your unique personality in pursuit of bettering whatever environment you are in." – Katie Christy, founder, Activate Your Talent

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Academy�Goals

• Gain insights into yourself (strengths)
• Network and collaborate with others.
• Gain awareness about local and statewide issues f acing people with disabilities
• Feel empowered to work to take steps to improve life in your community.

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ANY QUESTIONS?

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Evaluation

Now that we are done with the presentation, please go to https://s.surveyplanet.com/iHWFili27 and complete an evaluation for this class.

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Daniel Ekman: Daniel.Ekman@state.nm.us 505-670-5698

Lindsay Sloan: Lindsay.sloan@state.nm.us 505-259-4013

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THANK YOU!!

Center for Self-Advocacy

625 Silver Ave. SW Suite 100

Albuquerque, NM 87102