Compiled by Rachael Zubal, Bonnie Shoultz, and Pam Walker
June 1997
The self-advocacy movement is growing and producing many materials on and by people with disabilities speaking for themselves. This is a partial listing of self-advocacy resources currently available. We have included a few items on choice and self-determination, which is related to the development of self-advocacy, in which the voices of self-advocates were included.
Our Voice is New: All About Self-Advocacy. (1986). A slide presentation with script and cassette tape describing what self-advocacy is, why it is important, what self-advocates work to achieve, and how to get started as a self-advocate.
A Chance To Be Made Whole: People First Members Being Friends to Tear Down Institution Walls. (1997). This booklet is the summary of a meeting of People First of Tennessee members and advisors complied by John O'Brien. It presents, in their own words, what people have learned about reaching out and being friends to people who still live in institutions, and about supporting them as they move out into the community. Their hope is that other self-advocacy groups can learn from their experiences on institution closure.
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Open the Doors: The Nuts & Bolts of Building Supports for Each Other, a publication by Self Advocates Becoming Empowered, the national organization on self-advocacy, funded by the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation., describes the meaningful contributions that self-advocates are making throughout the United States.
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IMPACT: Feature Issue on Consumer Controlled Housing. Spring 1990. This issue focuses on concerns, strategies, and options in consumer controlled housing for people with disabilities, including resources for financing housing in the community.
IMPACT: Feature Issue on Institution Closure. Winter 1995/1996. This issue contains information on national trends as well as a variety of articles on closing institutions written from the perspectives of self-advocates, professionals, parents, researchers, and policy makers.
IMPACT: Feature Issue on Self-Advocacy. Winter 1990/1991. This issue focuses on self-advocacy for persons with disabilities, and includes information on self-advocacy strategies and examples of its impact on lives.
IMPACT: Feature Issue on Self-Advocacy. Spring 1994. This issue focuses on the national self-advocacy movement, barriers and supports to self-advocacy, and the future.
Effective Self-Advocacy: Empowering People with Disabilities to Speak for Themselves. This report is a record of the discussion during a 1990 workshop which brought together 18 people from seven states who have experience in self-advocacy for people with developmental disabilities.
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The Beliefs, Values, and Principles of Self-Advocacy. (1996). This booklet talks about the beliefs, values, and principles of self-advocacy, and about the role of support persons. It also gives examples of good practice. It is produced by the International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap (ILSMH) Committee on Self-Advocacy formed to help promote self-advocacy internationally.
New Voices: Self-Advocacy by People with Disabilities. (1996). Edited by Hank Bersani and Gunnar Dybwad. This book includes many chapters written by self-advocates concerning the self-advocacy movement, and provides a historical perspective, as well as reflections on the current status and future course of the movement.
All available from:
Self-Determination and Trust: My Experiences and Thoughts, by Michael J. Kennedy. (1996). In this book chapter the author discusses how he defines self-determination, how important trusting relationships are in self-determination, and how the service system can support it. In Self-Determination Across the Life Span: Independence and Choice for People with Disabilities, edited by Deanna J. Sands & Michael L. Wehmeyer.
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Advice for Advisors: People First. (1988) by Bill Worrell, Written by People First, a handbook for those who act as advisors to self-advocacy groups. Explains what self-advocacy is, how to make it work, the People First movement, empowerment and qualities of a good advisor.
Leadership Training Manual: People First. (1987). By Bill Worrell. Designed by People First for those who want to know what the organization represents and how to start and operate their own group. Contains illustrations as well as step-by-step guidelines for members, leaders and advisors involved in self-advocacy.
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Self-Determination, by Michael Kennedy. The author talks about how at an early age he had to learn to speak up for himself and how the definition of self-determination has changed over time. TASH Newsletter, September 1993, p. 11.
The Self-Advocacy Movement: Opportunities for Everyone, by Bonnie Shoultz. This article offers a brief description of current activities in the self-advocacy movement, emphasizing opportunities available due to the growth of the movement in the last four years. TASH Newsletter, November 1994, pp. 24-27.
Thoughts About Self-Advocacy, by Michael Kennedy, with Bonnie Shoultz. This articles talks about self-advocacy, including issues involving basic rights, real choices, and the dangers of misunderstanding what self-advocacy is. TASH Newsletter, April 1996, pp. 27-28.
More Thoughts on Self-Advocacy: The Movement, The Group, & The Individual, by Bonnie Shoultz. This article discusses the contributions of and differences between individual self-advocacy, group self-advocacy, and the self-advocacy movement. TASH Newsletter, October/November 1996, pp. 22-25.
For more information on the TASH Newsletter, contact:
Self-Advocacy: Freedom, Equality, and Justice for All
This interactive video program explores the concept of self-advocacy as a tool for building self-determination skills and as an emerging civil rights movement for people with disabilities.
Shaking Off Stereotypes
This interactive, entertaining video program allows you and your group to experience the value of high self-esteem--to believe in yourself and to have a sense of your own worth and dignity.
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Preparation of this listing was supported in part by the National Resource Center on Community Integration, Center on Human Policy, School of Education, Syracuse University, through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), through Contract No. H133D50037. No endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education should be inferred.