Speak Up: Your Guide To Self-Advocacy
No One Knows You Better Than Yourself
There are lots of experts to help people with developmental disabilities succeed. But the best expert, and the most consistent one, is often found within. After all, no one knows you better than yourself.
Whether you’ve got the words to express yourself or are reliant on actions alone or others to interpret, Ari Ne’eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, shares the tools to turn anyone into a self-advocate.
It’s easier than you think. Start small, advises Ne’eman, who is on the autism spectrum himself. The key is to make yourself heard however you can.
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“When other people make decisions for you without you, the decisions that are made often don’t fit your needs,” Ne’eman says. “Self-advocacy helps people get the outcomes that they desire and it becomes necessary — as a person grows from a child to an adult — in order to succeed in this world.”
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