Have A Goal And Stick To It
Speaking up isn’t ever a bad idea, but how you do it could be.
“Obviously you want to select the means that are going to accomplish your ends,” Ne’eman says. “It’s often not terribly productive to start screaming and yelling at people.”
Instead Ne’eman advises a four-point plan:
- Know what you’re looking to accomplish.
- Have a plan to get your way that works within the system that you’re in.
- Consider how you’ll express your position and determine what success will look like.
- If you’re not successful the first time, consider working outside the system to achieve your goal.
Parents who have children with disabilities need to teach self advocacy. If your child can communicate in anyway, please teach them to stand up for themselves!
Awesome article and extremely timely for me as I am simultaneously growing into Autism Sel-Advocacy and creating my own Foundation to advocate for the Rights of other Autistic Persons, who don’t yet have the Ability to do so for themselves. My Foundation is going to help Autistic Persons do everythIng for themselves, one day, because I Am. I am 47.8 years old and I was non-verbal from birth until age 7. I taught myself Life and now I Am Ready to Live. When I was a Child, when I began to start Speaking, I told my father, I want to be a Clinical Research and Child Psychologist so that No Child has to grow up Like I Am. And I Will Be because I have been doing the Work all my Life. I finally know what Self-Love Is because I Am Taking Care of Me, First. God’s got My back and that makes it that much more Divine. My Autism at birth was a Gift from God and today, I Feel Proud to honor that Gift by making sure, through the creation of my Autism Foundation, No Child Ever Has To Grow Up Like I Did. Thank you for giving the Strength, through this article, to continue Fighting the Good Fight
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