• Learn how to speak up for ourselves.
• Making our own desicions about what we want to do with our lives.
• Learning how to get all the information that we need to understand a topic.
• Finding out what and who will support us in meeting our goals.
• Knowing our rights and responsibilities.
• Feeling good about learning from our mistakes.
• Problem solving when things go wrong.
• Listening to and helping each other.
• Reaching out to people who are not members.
• Learning about Self-determination.

Why is Self-Advocacy Important:

In the past, and sometimes even today, adults treat persons with disabilties like we are children. Sometimes we are not given the chance to participate in decisions that are being made about our lives.

Often people who we think are helping us are hiding our rights from us. We are often labeled and called by our label instead of our name. Many of us have not been given the chance how to live in the community.

People First has allowed us to speak up for ourselves and to show others that we do have the right to make choices.

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