Megaconference Special #2 of 6: Self Advocacy and Self Determination

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-06-26 09:00:00 UTC
Topics:

a mural on a free-standing brick wall. blue background with butterflies. and arch with flags from many countries. in the arch, three hands hold up a book. one hand is white, another black, and a third yellow. along the bottom there are flowers and the word 'empowerment'The second presentation I attended was on self-advocacy and self-determination. I go on and on quite enough about those topics on a regular basis, and yet keep finding new things as yet unaddressed. Like, the divide between theory and practice.

There's a really fantastic slide I'm looking at on my handout from this presentation right now. It says:

What can Self-Determination mean for you?

Having the determination (or drive) to do things for yourself.

Setting Personal goals.

Knowing when to ask for help.

Having the courage to dream big and go after your dreams.

Learning who you are, what you want and how to make it happen. (This is a lifelong process.)

I really, really like this slide. It's vibrant, strong, empowering. Real.

But there are questions too. How do people who have been systematically beaten down (and many of us have been) find that drive? Or feel empowered to have goals beyond "I want my life to stop sucking hugely." What happens when a person asks for help and no one listens, or no one cares? Where is the courage to be found to dream when one has experienced little more than broken promises? Who or what will help us to make what we want happen? (No one makes their dreams happen all alone.) How is a lifetime of being ignored or condescended to turned around and one encouraged to take the reigns of their own life?

I wonder if younger people who have grown up in a culture of self-advocacy and self-determination will struggle less with these sorts of questions than today's generations who grew up without much encouragement. Sometimes I think yes. But other times I look at how little we are ever invited to give any input whatsoever into the things that affect our lives most and feel less optimistic. I field questions from social workers like "what do I do when a parent won't let their child attend their person centered planning meeting because they claim their child can't understand what's going on, even though we know the child can" and I feel like the battle for empowerment is still being mostly lost.

What can be done to increase self-advocacy and self-determination, practically, concretely, and for all individuals? What are the key tools of empowerment? How do we break away from those who always do things "for" us but never "with" us to find our own way? What in "the system" or society may still need to change?

Dora Raymaker
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