Book of Self Advocacy (1)

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TABLE TOPIC PAGE /SLIDE
OF ❖ Introduction 3-6
CONTENTS ❖ Knowledge Key 7 -23
9-12
➢ self advocacy 13
➢ knowledge
➢ Self awareness 14-15
➢ rights 18 -22
❖ Communication 24- 33
❖ Leadership 34 -40
❖ Informed decisions 41 -49
❖ Resources 50- 59
❖ Reflection/ Conclusion 60 -68

WELCOME
TO THE

JOURNEY

I’m Miss Russell-Diaz! Happy to see you here!

SELF-ADVOCACY IS A PART OF LIFE’S JOURNEY!

This is the beginning of your journey
to being an advocate in your life!

Let’s learn about the skills you need
to be the best advocate you can be

for your life! These skills will also
help you find and use the resources
and support systems in your home,
school, and community to help you

succeed!

GREAT SELF-ADVOCACY COMES FROM THESE KEY SKILLS

KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATION MAKING

(AWARENESS OF SELF AND INFORMED DECISIONS
YOUR RIGHTS)
LEADERSHIP



Has

NecGePsoHuiotaaegszdleeEcstslriaupcnsaasañlrqoaltu?ei!!

LET’S TALK ABOUT…

SELF-ADVOCACY: knowledge, self-awareness, & your rights

But first…

VOCABULARY….because knowledge requires words!

Self-advocacy

Knowledge
Self-awareness
Right

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then click the buttons!

What is self-advocacy?

Advocacy comes from the word advocate which means -to support or defend.
SELF–ADVOCACY is supporting or defending yourself. It is being your #1 fan & reminding others that

your needs are important!

Defending doesn’t have to be fighting…you can defend yourself using information and
communication.

Self-advocating is knowing what you need, when you need it, and how to get it! It is important to know
how the people, places, and things around us can help us when we need help. It is important to

understand that it’s okay to ask for help to get the things we need and know who and how to ask. You
achieve this skill through knowledge of yourself (self-awareness) and your rights, leadership,
communication, and making informed decisions.

Why is
self-advocacy

important?

How do I
ask for
help?

SOMETIMES
IT’S HARD TO

ASK FOR
HELP!

What is Knowledge?

Why is it important in self-advocacy?

You may have heard that knowledge IS power. Today, let’s look at knowledge a different way. Let’s believe that
knowledge HAS power.

Knowledge IS… information or skills that you get from experience (doing things) or from
education (learning things).

Knowledge IS what you know!

So, If you have knowledge but don’t know how to use it, is it truly powerful?
The power that you can find in knowledge comes from learning how to use it to help you manage life. This is why

knowledge HAS power…if you use it to your advantage. Knowledge has the power to keep you safe, help you
solve problems, help you grow, and help you succeed in life.

Knowledge, or the things you know & learn, is what you use to get the things or help you need. It’s what you use to
advocate for yourself.

Knowledge is a cool tool!

What is self-awareness?

How does it help you advocate for yourself?

Self-awareness is the ability to identify our feelings,
beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses. It also means
understanding how our feelings and thoughts affect what
we choose to do. Self-awareness is the first step to being

able to advocate for yourself.
When you understand yourself, you can explain to others

what you need and how they can help you best.

Avoidance: The Enemy of Self-Awareness

I get it…

It can be hard to think about our strengths and weaknesses! It can be even
harder to tell others about those things or to admit we need help.

Avoiding means not doing something you should do because you are afraid,
not interested, or upset. Sometimes we avoid things on purpose;
sometimes our fears makes our brains avoid things without us fully
understanding that we are avoiding it.

To learn to become self-aware and practice self-awareness in our lives we
have to be willing to think about ourselves…the strong parts and the parts
that we need to work on. We have to accept the things we are good at and
not so good at. We have to accept that we need help and be brave enough

to speak up to get help.
Self- awareness requires that we are HONEST with ourselves!

How can we
be our
truest &

best self?



What are rights?

How do they help me?

YOU HAVE RIGHTS AS A HUMAN AND A CHILD!
Rights are things you are allowed to have and do as a human being and a child. They are there

to protect you and make sure you are taken care of.

You deserve your rights; they can’t be taken away from you.

You get them when you are born.
They are written in the laws.

It is okay to speak up for your rights!

* It’s important to understand that rights are different than privileges. Privileges are things or opportunities
that you EARN! They can be taken away.

Let’s hear
about your
rights from the

UNCRC!

The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a

worldwide organization that fights for your
rights!









COMMUNICATION

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What is communication?

How do we communicate?

Tools or channels of communication

o Computers
o Chat
o Email
o Videos

o Phones
o Calls
o Texts
o Video
o Social media (dm)
o pictures

o Face-to-face
o Verbal talking
o Sign language

o Mail
o Letters
o Post-cards/pictures
o

● COMMUNICATION CAN BE VERBAL (WITH WORDS) OR
NONVERBAL (WITH OUR EXPRESSIONS AND GESTURES)

Communication Styles



What about YELLING or
FIGHTING?

This is why yelling or fighting with someone when you need something isn't the best way to
communicate that you need their help…

Yelling and fighting are aggressive forms of communicating!

Emotions:
We don't usually enjoy being yelled at. Doing or saying mean things to someone when we need their
help may hurt their feelings and make them NOT want to help us.

Brain:
When a person feels attacked the amygdala in their brain sends a stress signal that the person must
protect themselves because they may be in danger. It's our body's alarm system! If we need
someone's help we need them to feel safe around us so that they can listen to what we are saying
and figure out how to help us. Your brain has a hard time thinking when it feels like it's under attack.

Aggressive communication can make it harder to get the help you need.
BE ASSERTIVE NOT AGGRESSIVE!

Communication Skills

Be Assertive!
Assertive communicators are respectful,
kind, and confident. They don’t try to
intimidate other people into doing what
they want. They try to find solutions
instead of creating a problem.

Communication Skills

Speaking with confidence is important!
Confidence helps you share your message
more clearly and helps you deal with
whatever response you get no matter if it’s
good or bad.





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LEADERSHIP

Let’s talk about leader qualities and leadership styles.

What is a leader? What is Leadership?

A leader is simply someone who other people
will follow. A leader is someone who can inspire
you or motivate you to meet a goal.
LEADERSHIP is what leaders do! Being a
leader doesn’t come from having power over
people or being at a higher level. Leadership
comes from your ability to connect with people
and influence them. Anyone can be a leader if
they have the right skills.

What makes someone a good leader?

What else makes someone a good
leader?

Leadership in Self-Advocacy

●

Leadership Styles



INFORMED
DECISIONS

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Let’s talk about how to make choices that help us reach our goals

au·ton·o·my )

WE MAKE
DECISIONS
EVERYDAY!

Many thoughts and feelings can lead to making
decisions that are not helpful!

Sometimes, our Anxious Tired
decisions don’t
Frustrated Confused
turn out well!
hopeless Scared
Embarrassed
Impulsive

Sad Angry Revenge

Jokes/ pranks

Desperate



So, what is an
informed-decision &
how does it help with

self-advocacy?

How do we make an
informed-decision?

Using our BRAINs!

Let’s take it step by Making informed-decisions requires that you
step... think and plan your moves carefully!

1.Define your problem
“I don’t understand this assignment!”

2.Gather information and resources
“It is a math assignment”

3.List options
“Maybe my sister can help, or my mom, or my counselor, or

my friend, or my math teacher, or my art teacher?”

4.Weigh and compare options
“Well, my sister struggles with math too. My mom is at work.

My friend lives too far. My counselor can help me find someone. My
art teacher too, but she is teaching art. I’ll see my math teacher in
class this afternoon!”

5.Make a decision
“My math teacher gave me the assignment and I’ll see her

soon! She would be the best person to help!”
6.Make a plan of action

“I’m going to write myself a note so I remember to ask her
for help in class and take notes so I can do the rest of the problems
on my own!”
7.Evaluate the decision

“If I ask my math teacher for help in class she can probably
walk me through the steps so I can solve the math problems!



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