14 Self-Advocacy
Learning Objectives
- To understand what self-advocacy is and some ways to apply it to your life.
- To understand what self-care is and reflect on how you look after yourself.
Self- Advocacy
Self-advocacy is how we communicate our needs, wants and rights to access required accommodations or support (Hoey, 2024). Self-advocacy is important for everyone to understand to ensure they receive the appropriate support. No one else knows what you need better than yourself. So, recognising the reasonable accommodations you may need when working with others or in day-to-day life is an important skill to develop.
Interactive Activity: 5 Quick Ways to Self-Advocate
Use the interactive activity to learn 5 quick ways to self-advocate and help you high-five yourself! You can read more about each tip below.
Copyright note: Created by Teagan Menhenett, © Deakin University 2024, licensed under CC-BY-NC.
Copyright note: The image in the above activity is used under the Pixabay Content License.
Learn more about each tip by expanding the arrows:
1. Understand how your brain works
- Do you prefer visual, auditory, or written communication?
- Do you find yourself wanting to move around often?
- Do you find it challenging to talk to others?
- When you understand how your brain functions you are in a much better position to think about what your needs are. If you are unsure how your brain works you can use the ‘Welcome to Me Resource’ (found in the chapter ‘How do you learn best?), ask family and friends for their thoughts, complete the provided learning quizzes or use Google to learn about the different ways people learn.
2. Know what reasonable accommodations you can ask for.
- Do you prefer all communication to be written down?
- Do you need a summary after each meeting?
- Do you need more stepped instructions?
- Would it be more helpful if the team met online? In a quieter space?
- Think about what might help make the team project more manageable for you. This does not mean you do less work than your teammates, but it might mean information is presented in such a way that it is easier for you to do your role. Talk to the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) about what specific accommodations may be available to you.
3. Know who to talk to about any supports or accommodations
- If you do not feel comfortable talking face-to-face to your team members about the accommodations you need, you can email or message them after the meeting with a written version.
- Also know the DRC is available to support you if you need, as is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. Links to all of these resources are available in the next chapter.
- Talking to your lecturers is also beneficial, especially if the accommodations you are asking for will be helpful for you to have in the classroom too.
4. Be polite but firm
- Continue to advocate for yourself in the team project in a polite but firm manner. If your team members are not respecting the reasonable accommodations you have made, you can discuss the situation with your tutor or unit chair.
- Before you go to your tutor or unit chair, ensure you have tried at least 3 times to advocate within your group. This may also include bringing a support person along to meetings or discussing the challenges with friends outside of the unit.
- Learning the skills to advocate for yourself is incredibly important so do ensure you try yourself first. However, it is also important to be able to ask for help if you are unable to access the supports you need on your own.
5. Practice
- Without practice, you will not be able to build your skills. It can be scary at first, but the more you advocate for what you need, the easier it will be become, and the more comfortable you will feel advocating for yourself in different environments.
- You can look through the reference list to find some more information, as well as using the email templates in the ‘Further Resources’ chapter.
Sometimes it can be difficult to know when, or if you need accommodations or supports, or if your rights are being supported by other students in your team. If you are unsure, or you feel as though you are not supported in your team, it is best to talk to your lecturer or unit chair about how you are feeling.
Self-Care
Self-care encompasses any activates that feel good for you and have your wellbeing at heart. For some people this might be playing with a pet, exercising or catching up with friends. Self-care can also involve things we may not always want to do but are often necessary to maintain our health and wellbeing. This might be getting enough sleep, eating well, taking time to rest or visiting your doctor.
It is important to focus on the things you enjoy and to recharge your battery, particularly if you find working in a team environment or communicating with others challenging.
We have shared a few strategies that have worked for us throughout this book, think about what self-care looks like for you and feel free to share strategies that work for you.
Interactive Activity: Add Your Contribution to the Word Cloud
Reflect on the questions ‘What does self-care look like for you?’
If you would like to, add your anonymous contribution to the Word Cloud.
Note- you will need to use the QR code to add your response, as the code will not work.
Key Takeaways
- Self-advocacy and self-care are both vital parts of working in a team. It is important to ensure your needs are met, and you are looking after yourself.
These are some of the words you may have come across in this chapter:
How we communicate our needs, wants and rights to access required accommodations or support.
Any activates that feel good for you and have your wellbeing at heart.
