The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Learning self-advocacy skills is an essential skill for teens to transition into adulthood. A twenty year old man just out of high school will share experiences and suggestions for learning to be an effective advocate. His mother will convey her perspective, as a parent and mental health professional about how to support children on spectrum for a more self-determined life. Session will include concrete suggestions, wisdom from other young people on spectrum and undoubtedly, a few good laughs. Learning to be an effective advocate on one’s own behalf is a lifelong process. It is best accomplished as a partnership between parent and child, with the added support of professionals.  Parents can do a variety of things to launch their child on the road to self-determination. These strategies will be discussed in greater detail during the session.

Participants will learn about the direct connection between self-awareness and one’s ability to become an effective advocate.  Before you can speak up on your own behalf, you must first be able to identify your feelings and your needs. Of course, this is something that all of us continue to learn throughout our lives, but it is a more challenging task for people with autism. Many factors contribute to this being difficult. Children with autism often struggle with body awareness.  They also may have difficulty identifying feelings.  (We now know that there are actual differences in brain wiring that impact the areas of the brain that process emotions.)  Expressive communication problems are another obvious barrier to effectively articulating one’s needs. Finally, difficulties with sensory processing act as formidable distractions from tuning in to one’s internal world.

Although the above mentioned factors do serve as stumbling blocks to successful self advocacy, people on spectrum are still capable of learning this life skill. In the book, A Stranger Among Us (Lieberman, AAPC, 2005) there are six suggestions for promoting self-advocacy in younger children. These include: verbalizing observations about how your child is responding; providing your child with opportunities to make choices; letting your child experience the power of saying “no;” helping your child to recognize his own internal sensations and emotions; giving your child words to describe how she is feeling; and soliciting feedback regularly from your child about current issues in his life. (p.104) These will be discussed in greater detail during the session.    

The session will also explore barriers in the larger environment that interfere with successful advocacy for people on spectrum.  One especially problematic roadblock is the negative attitudes on the part of others toward people who are different in any way. This shows up in many forms: underestimation; disdain; pity; patronizing; minimizing; bullying; etc. Through group discussion, examples from other families and the presenters’ experiences, ideas and strategies for successful advocacy will be shared, in spite of these barriers.

In his first twenty years, Jordan Ackerson has built a solid foundation for increasing his expertise with advocacy. From his perspective, he will describe the different experiences that have prepared him to adeptly speak up on his own behalf.  He will also describe actual strategies employed to get peoples’ attention with positive results. 

Lisa will bring in examples from a mom’s perspective, as well as from her professional speaking and counseling practice. She will share aspects of finding the delicate balance between facilitating self-advocacy and letting go, in parenting her son.  She will also share wisdom from other parents and individuals on spectrum about their journeys toward a more self-determined life.  

Effective advocacy is a building block that supports living a self-determined life.  Self-determination is the ability to decide what you want, and to have the necessary tools to direct your own life, in order to fully participate in society.  One of the greatest gifts parents and professionals can give a child is to offer increased opportunities to learn to make choices and direct their own life.  If we are to accept that self-advocacy is a basic building block towards a productive adult life, then anyone dealing with people who have ASD needs to keep that goal in the forefront.

Another gift that both parents and professionals can give children on spectrum is to repeatedly communicate a belief in that child’s ability to be successful.  The ultimate goal in nurturing any child is to help them live as independent a life as possible, and to maximize their potential, in the process.  Believing in oneself is a key ingredient in transitioning successfully into adulthood. All of us, whether family, friend, or professional, will do the greatest good for people on spectrum if we help them to believe in themselves, and support them to communicate effectively on their own behalf.

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