Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #SelfAdvocacy

Most recents (11)

📌6 important ways to maximize the value you draw from your career.

- A THREAD
1/6 Don't allow loyalty to your current employer to stop you from considering better opportunities.

Remember, businesses prioritize their fiscal health. It's only fair for you to prioritize your career growth likewise.

Be open to change and progress.
2/6 🚀Embrace New Opportunities:

Don't shy away from a promising opportunity just because it means a smaller paycheck in the short term.

View your career as a strategic journey. Sometimes a pay cut can lead to new avenues, expanded networks, and unanticipated advancement.
Read 8 tweets
SOME GREAT NEWS: @CalSCDD has secured over 2 Million pieces of personal protective equipment for Californians with intellectual disabilities (including autism) and their families. Announcements for distribution dates/locations to be made soon.

❤️😷❤️ An image of a group of peop...An image of a group of peop...An image of a group of peop...An image of a group of peop...
An important note, @CalSCDD includes many people w/ intellectual disabilities in its leadership (I also serve on the Council’s Bay Area RAC). This is a great example of #SelfAdvocacy by disabled people along with our families and allies.

I’m so proud of the staff & council here!
Also, partners involved in this process include the Golden Gate and East Bay Regional Centers, Integrated Community Services, R&D Transportarion, and more.

I’ve never been more proud to be associated with @CalSCDD than during #COVID_19. The staff and Council has been amazing!
Read 3 tweets
So this is not my hill to die on today, but I do feel like it's worth fleshing out a bit WHY this bugs me and WHY I don't do it. But as one of my best teachers used to say, "What do I know? You decide for yourself."

#highered
#helpseeking
I've been teaching first-year students, most of them first-generation students (aka #newtrad), for fourteen years. A huge part of my job is normalizing the frustration of the college experience and teaching them to self-advocate.

#highered
#helpseeking
Many (most?) of my students are intimidated by authority figures. They've been burned in the past. They've been shamed and belittled for asking questions. Many gave up on asking at all. For more on this, read The College Fear Factory by Rebecca Cox.

#highered
#helpseeking
Read 9 tweets
On the @Cisco forum on disability and #COVID__19 yesterday, I shared with the audience the importance of #SelfAdvocacy in navigating the health care system as a disabled person or as the parent of a disabled child during this time... An image of myself, a white...
Here are the four points I shared:

1) Know yourself (or your child) as a disabled person. Accept yourself. Understand your needs.

2) Recognize your normalcy. Whether you are autistic, have Downs syndrome, or use a chair, disabled people are just as normal as everyone else...
3) Use the confidence that comes from understanding yourself as normal to claim your space.

4) Advocate for yourself and your needs in that knowledge. Health care professionals may not always know or understand your needs. So, advocate for those needs and for you.

❤️♾
Read 3 tweets
It’s April. Autism Speaks is encouraging non-autistic people to #LightItUpBlue. I am encouraging autistic people to #FuckSomeShitUp.

Take this month to stand in #SelfAdvocacy. That can be big. It can be small. This month’s about you.

#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
#ActuallyAutistic
And let me loudly recognize that this is a stressful time. We’re all exhausted. I’m there too.

Autistic people need to resist frames which try to control us, infantilize us, speak on our behalf. But, that can be in loud protest or simply in taking time to rest & value yourself.
The first step in #SelfAdvocacy is #SelfAcceptance. It’s from there you begin to love yourself and claim your normalcy & full worth.

If the action you take is simply to recognize “I’m ok. I’m normal. I’m fine,” that’s a powerful one. You indeed are beginning to #FuckSomeShitUp.
Read 4 tweets
The next @CalSCDD meeting is next Tues. Jan. 28 in Sacramento. It’s open to the public.

I’ll be there to urge that projects led by the disability community be prioritized in its next grant cycle & to share the work of groups like @AutisticWomensA.

What would you have me share? An image of the California ...
For background: State Councils on Developmental Disabilities are independent state agencies meant to ensure that those with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and support they need.

@CalSCDD has been an active partner in promoting #SelfAdvocacy.
January 28 Agenda:

1. Call to Order
2. Establish Quorum
3. Welcome & Introduction
4. Public Comment
5. Approval of 11/2019 Minutes
6. Chair & Committee Reports
7. Executive Director/Staff Reports
8. Governor’s Proposed Budget
9. SCDD Policy Priorities
10. Housing Update... An image of the January 28 ...
Read 4 tweets
RIP #JerryHerman who wrote #IAmWhatIAm (La Cage aux Folles), a Broadway hit which became an LGBT anthem. For me, the song is a perfect autistic/disability #SelfAdvocacy anthem as well.

I’ve always loved this Shirley Bassey rendition:

LYRICS:

I am what I am.
I am my own special creation.
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation.
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in.
My world & it's not a place I have to hide in.
Life's not worth a damn
'Till you can say
"Hey World, I am what I am."
I am what I am.
I don't want praise
I dont want pity.
I bang my own drum.
Some think it's noise
I think its pretty.
So what if I love each sparkle
and each bangle?
Why not try to see things
from a different angle?
Your life is a sham
'Till you can shout out loud
I am what I am!
Read 5 tweets
People keep sharing this piece by @autistichoya and LOVING it. This includes parents I know of autistic kids (of all support type needs) who’ve never encountered the work of Lydia X. Z. Brown (the author) but who’ve now shared it with all their networks.

washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/1…
I like to joke that @autistichoya “scares me”. I mean that a the highest compliment in my own weird way. Like Thunberg, she’s not afraid to speak truth. We need that, I need that, to keep us sharp, focused, and effective.
The fact that parents I know in Ohio, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico & other places are resonating with this tells you how much the message of @autistichoya here is connecting with them. These are parents of kids with low support needs, high support needs, non-speaking, speaking, etc.
Read 8 tweets
A double header! In addition to naming @GretaThunberg as its #PersonOfTheYear, it’s named @lizzo as #EntertainerOfTheYear.

She may not be autistic, but Lizzo’s music preaching self-acceptance and #SelfAdvocacy is a perfect soundtrack to loving yourself & moving forward in power.
Also, damn can she write for a hook. If you haven’t listened to Lizzo, do yourself a favor and do.

Also, Lizzo was a guest on this podcast in May where she nerded out on music composition (and demonstrated her genius as a musician).

stitcher.com/podcast/vox/sw…
Geeking out once more. In her song #LikeAGirl, Lizzo sings:

“If you feel like a girl, then you real like a girl. Do your thing. Run the whole damn world.”

Not sure original intent, but in concert I saw Lizzo make it clear it promotes trans acceptance.

Read 3 tweets
I’ve been spending the afternoon reviewing my lesson plan on the #FutureOfWork that I’m teaching to autistic young adults tomorrow.

I always love this lesson as I get to point out how neurotypical people are going to have to learn new “job ready” skills in years to come.
I say that because there’s always been a heavy focus on teaching autistic/disabled people “job ready” skills. Yet, the shifting nature of work means everyone is going to have to learn these new skills and navigations.
So, it’s a great point to emphasize how autistic thinking (or any intellectual disability) isn’t less, but different. I also get to teach how the #FutureOfWork means we get to reevaluate how we best think and work and build out from our strengths.
Read 7 tweets
During a Q/A I held st @ChicoStstr with autistic young adults and parents, I listened to a 17yo autistic boy discuss how accepting the normalcy of disability, and learning self-advocacy had radically improved his life. I was smiling, but trying so hard not to cry.
His mom was there, and she echoed that too. “His friends see him as normal because he sees himself and autism as normal. It’s just a fact of life.” She then told me aside “I really can see him becoming an advocate and developing as a leader.” I could see that too.
This wasn’t a mom academically versed in the neurodiversity paradigm (from what I could tell). She was just a mom who accepted her son and his disability, and encouraged him to accept that as well. No “woe is me,” no “Autism is a superpower!” Just...normal. That’s powerful.
Read 8 tweets

Related hashtags

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!