SIL works with individuals with disabilities to gain self-advocacy skills so they are equipped to deal effectively with barriers to community living. Staff also advocate on behalf of a single individual to ensure their needs are being met. In addition, staff are involved with system change efforts on local, state and national levels in order to increase choice and community based options and to address barriers to community living.
What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is acting, speaking or writing to promote, protect and defend the human rights of people. Advocacy involves promoting the interests or cause of someone or a group of people.
An advocate is a person who argues for, recommends, or supports a cause or policy.
Advocacy in all its forms seeks to ensure that people, particularly those most vulnerable in society, can:
♦ Have their voice heard on issues that are important to them
♦ Defend and safeguard their rights
♦ Have their views and concerns genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives
Types of Advocacy
Self-advocacy means you know your rights and responsibilities, you speak-up for your rights, and you can make choices and decisions that affect your life. Self-advocacy helps to empower you, to speak-up for yourself and decide what YOU want.
In individual advocacy. a person or group of people concentrate their efforts on just one or two individuals. According to the group Advocacy for Inclusion “Advocacy is having someone to stand beside you if you think something is unfair or that someone is treating you badly and you would like to do something to change it.”
There are two common forms of individual advocacy – informal and formal advocacy. When people like parents, friends, family members or agencies speak out and advocate for vulnerable people this is termed informal advocacy. Formal advocacy more frequently involves organizations that pay their staff to advocate for someone or for a group of individuals.
Systems advocacy is about changing policies, laws or rules that impact how someone lives their life. These efforts can be targeted at a local, state, or national level. The focus can be changing laws, or policy.
Voting
Voting is also an important way for people to make decisions and express their opinions. Voting helps to decide who will speak for you on the rights, supports, funding programs and services you need in your life. Learn more.