At college, students with disabilities face full responsibility for their own learning and support, and the key to success is often linked to self-advocacy. So how do we define and encourage it?
In this post, learn:
- How to define self-advocacy
- What makes a self-advocate
- How you could improve self-advocacy skills for your students
Self-advocacy skills are essential for students with disabilities in higher education to possess. But for many, it can be a struggle. In fact, studies have indicated that only around 19% of students with a disability receive accommodations in the higher ed classroom, whilst a mere 28% of those with a qualifying disability inform their institution of it in the first place.
Putting aside all other considerations, this would suggest there’s a deficiency in self-advocacy skills at higher ed institutions.
So what defines self-advocacy as a stand alone skill? And how can schools and institutions teach it? These are the questions we want to ask and, by looking at some commonly accepted definitions and associated behaviours, help to answer them too.
First, let’s look at the term itself and what it means in practice.