Everyone feels strongly about something. It could be something simple. It could be something really important like the high cost of medication. The important thing is you can make change. You can’t win every battle, but you can try hard and often see results. You just need to advocate for the thing you want to change. What does advocate mean? It means speaking up. Never advocated before? Here’s 7 STEPS on how to get started.
1. Find a person who has advocated for something they care about
2. Listen to their story
3. Ask them questions about how they did it
4. Tell them what you want to change
5. Ask them for advice
6. Use their advice
7. Ask for help
Where do you find this person? That’s the easiest part. You just need to come to the next Emerging Advocates Student Group meeting! You will meet lots of students who advocate for things they care about. Here are a few examples of students with intellectual disability advocating for change.
- What did Nick think was unfair? His college did not let students in his program walk at graduation.
- What did he do to change it? He started a petition at his campus. Students signed it and he gave it to the dean. He walked at graduation and so did other students in his program.
- What does Emany feel strongly about? Students with intellectual disability need money to live on campus.
- What’s he doing to change it? He started to collect money for scholarships to help students pay to live on campus.
- What frustrates Angie? Angie is frustrated because Spanish-speaking families don’t know enough about inclusive college.
- What is she doing to change it? She got a job translating college information from English to Spanish.
What do you want to change? Think about it and let us know at the next meeting on December 11, 3-4pm ET. Click here to register
Do you have questions? You can email Sheila at sheila.johnson@umb.edu or Liz at lweintraub@aucd.org.