All of us who support people with disabilities are in some way advocates for them. It is this role that allows us to exercise and promote the philosophy and values of The Big Wave Project.
As a supportive group of people, we should all work to relate to the individuals in a way that assists in meeting their needs. Our role, in the sense, is to help the community in general to better understand and develop healthy, informed attitudes about and toward people with disabilities.
In order for individuals with disabilities to be treated with dignity and respect, it is important for them to be integrated into community settings.
Advocacy IS:
- Building confidence so individuals can help themselves
- Supporting efforts toward independence
- Providing necessary tools for appropriate decisions and actions
- Hel[ping individuals have their rights recognized
Advocacy is NOT:
- Taking over a person’s life/problem and making all the decisions
- Squelching efforts of self help
- Reinforcing feelings of helplessness and dependence
- Making excuses for unavailability or inadequacy or services
- Accepting status quo when legislation is not implemented
- Accepting unavailability and inadequacy of services
Help the team advocate for the individuals with developmental disabilities and support our values, designing a secure, nurturing, socially integrative and educationally rich environment for individuals with developmental disabilities!