Resources to Promote Self-Advocacy Skills in Adolescents and Young Adults

While some of my life skills students begin to talk about transitioning into the employment setting, and prepare for life after high school, I’ve been doing lots of research on ways to best support them and their self-advocacy skills during this transition period. I’ve put together just a few of my favorite resources that I’ve discovered along the way to teach self-advocacy to adolescents and young adults with disabilities.

Remember, as a part of a student’s team, we have a responsibility to ensure that our objectives and activities consider functional communication skills, in order to help our students best meet communication demands during activities of daily living. These adolescents and young adults are relying on their team to be exposed to and taught a variety of life skills across various settings, so that they may successfully transition out of high school and into group or semi-independent living situations. Below are some of my favorite resources to help provide adolescents and young adults with the tools they need to self-advocate in their homes, in their schools, in their communities, and in their workplace settings.

Boom Cards™

This Self-Advocacy in the Workplace Leveled Boom Card deck consists of 65 digital task cards and is filled with something for every middle school, high school and young adult student needing practice as they get ready to transition to the employment setting! This resource includes 4 different activities, including the following:

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Yes/No Questions

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Problem Solving given situation prompts

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Vocabulary with several fill-in-the-blank opportunities

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Workplace Accommodations with real images

Printable Worksheets

Are you looking to teach self-advocacy for older students to build their confidence, help them take more risks, and ask for help and clarification? This  Self-Advocacy Printable Packet for Older Students is a comprehensive lesson that consists of 9 different worksheets for students and teachers to work though together in order to best understand each student’s unique interests, desires, needs, rights, strengths, and weaknesses, in order to improve self-advocacy skills in the home, school, and community environments.

What’s included?

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Explained Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Checklist Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Goals Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Goal Strategies Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Goal Identification Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Reflections Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy About Me Discussion Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Request Worksheet

⭐️ Self-Advocacy Plan Worksheet

Websites

http://www.selfadvocacyonline.org

(Tons of video stories from self-advocates on key topics such as the ADA, education, jobs, health, home, and self-determination.)

Whose Future Is it Anyway? Second Edition

(This resource contains 36 lesson sessions to help prepare students for their IEP meetings and gain self-determination skills).

Self-Advocacy: Tips for Teens

(A tip sheet to start learning about self-advocacy. Also includes two videos of youth with disabilities talking about their own self-advocacy). 

Speak Up! Using What You’ve Got to Get What You Want

(A multimedia tool that guides adolescents and young adults through training on mapping out personal goals, learning about their rights and responsibilities, learning the best way to ask for help, and ways to get organized).

Videos

Self-Advocacy: Find the Captain In You! – YouTube

(Exploring and discovering the powerful force of self- advocacy. This resource includes a 10 minute vide on Youtube to help youth with disabilities discover the importance of finding what they are good at, what they need assistance with, and how to effectively communicate with people in their life).

Parents Teaching Self-Advocacy Skills: Helping Your Child Toward Self-Determination

(A 25 minute video that provides parents and educators with a foundation of self-determination skills, such as making choices, setting goals, and self-advocacy). 

 

Don’t forget to save to your speech therapy Pinterest board.

 

What are your favorite ways to target self-determination and self-advocacy skills with adolescents and young adults? Let me know in the comments!