Self-Advocacy and Empowerment
Self-Advocacy and Empowerment
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Goal: Believing in themselves and understanding the impact of their visual impairment sets the foundation for children with BVI to engage with the present, speak up, and self advocate while building independence and gaining more control in their lives.
Self-Advocacy and Empowerment
Advocate/Take control:
Self-advocacy gives young people with BVI the ability to be in control of their life. Understanding the impact of their visual impairment and their rights is the foundation for their ability to express wants and needs to others and appropriately self-advocate. When the child can say “It makes me feel sad or helpless when someone tries to carry my tray at lunch for me. I feel proud doing it myself!” This lets others know this is important to your child and necessary for them to be successful in academics and functional areas.
Gain Independence:
Having a sense of their own strengths, abilities, interests, challenges, and needs gives children a foundation for gaining independence. Developing positive self-efficacy and outcome expectancy helps children believe in themselves and motivate them to develop self-advocacy skills. Having high expectations that build upon the young person’s strengths, interests, and needs will foster each child's ability to achieve independence and self-sufficiency.
ACTIVITIES
These activities were created for young people with Blind and Visual Impairments (BVI) who may have a variety of differences in learning styles. Each activity is designed to get young people thinking about, practicing, and discussing skills important for self-advocacy and independence. These activities are not designed with specific teaching strategies, since each child is unique and what might work well for one may not work well for another. As a parent, you are encouraged to modify these activities in any way that better meets the needs and interests of your child.
Beginner
Drawing/Journaling to begin to underst oneself and express interests and preferences.
Put thoughts into pictures or words by journaling. Exploring thoughts and emotions give your child self understanding and empower us. Preferences and interests can be explored in a safe environment.
Journal Adaptations
Beginner
List personal strengths and challenges caused by your visual impairment.
Exploring strengths and challenges empowers your child to believe in themselves and have positive self-efficacy and expect positive outcomes.
Activity:
Advanced
Speak up and express accommodation needs that you can request when needed.
Self-advocacy entails understanding the impact of the visual impairment and recognizing the need to speak up and explain it effectively to others.
The activities can be used by children of all abilities using switches to express needs. Switches enhance independence and participation by giving access to expression.
Activity:
Advanced
Look up the Communication Bill of Rights and make your own.
Understand your rights Learn about equality of opportunity for everyone, including nondiscrimination, individualization, inclusion, and integration.
Activity: Look up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a illustrated book on human rights. https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/#0 .
And- The Communication Bill of Rights and talk to parents and friends about it. Then look at the example of the personal adapted version of the Bill of Rights
Our goal is to create a resource to promote self-determination that can be easily accessed by parents, Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, School Psychologists, and any individuals involved in the support of students with visual impairments.
Our goal is to create a resource to promote self-determination that can be easily accessed by parents, Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, School Psychologists, and any individuals involved in the support of students with visual impairments.
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