Promoting Self-Advocacy Through Mentoring

1. Promoting Self-Advocacy Through Mentoring Center for Community Partnerships Department of Occupational Therapy ACCESS Project Supporting the inherent dignity, potential and full participation of all people.

2. ACCESS to Postsecondary Education through Universal Designfor LearningAND Self-Advocacy

4. Self-Advocacy = Personal Empowerment

5. Definition of Self-Advocacy

6. Self-Advocacy “…a lifelong personal pursuit of control over one’s circumstances. It is the act of advocating for what one wants, for how one desires to live, for how one wants to be treated…” ( Shoultz, 2006) • “Research has demonstrated that individuals who are self-determined are more successful in achievement of their stated goals.” (Field, Sarver & Shaw, 2003)

7. Know Yourself • Know Your Strengths • Know Your Challenges • Know Your Life Right Now

8. Know Your Strengths • Personality Traits • Learning Styles • Values • Skills, Abilities, Interests http://accessproject.colostate.edu

9. Know Your Challenges • Needs • Barriers to Success • Self Talk

10. Know Your Life Right Now • Look at all your life areas • Figure out strengths and challenges in each area…

11. Self-Advocacy is about the “whole” person… How balanced is an individual’s life?

12. Life Domain Areas • Daily Living – housing, eating, sleeping, laundry, finances, community access and services • School/Work – grades, study skills, test taking, computer skills, balancing work and school • Health – fitness, medication, health concerns, mental health, stress • Relationships- roommate, sig. other, family • Community/Rec. • Spirituality– meaning, purpose, vision

13. Know What You Need and Want • Based on Your Challenges, What are Your Needs? • Develop a Vision for Your Life – What are Your Hopes and Dreams? What do You Want?

14. Know How to GET What You Need and Want • Find Resources • Communicate • Get Organized • Make Decisions • Develop Study and Test Taking Skills • Solve Problems (Learn from mistakes) • Develop a Support Network • Set Goals • Plan for the Future – Career Development (Self-Advocacy to infinity and beyond!)

15. Just Do It! Get motivated… • Motivation occurs at the “flash point.” The flash point is the distress felt because of the gap (or discrepancy) between the desired and actual performance (Hirsch,2001). • Help students figure out what they desire. • Help students explore and understand distress. • Help students explore options.

16. Six Success Attributes that Correlate with Self-Advocacy • Raskind and Goldberg (2005) identified six success attributes: • Self-awareness • Proactivity • Perseverance • Goal Setting • The presence and use of Support Systems • Emotional Coping Strategies • based on a 20-year longitudinal study of individuals with learning disabilities.

17. Three Learning Outcomesfor Mentors/Interns: 1) Understand the Process of Self-Advocacy Know Yourself Know What You Need and Want Know How to GET What You Need and Want

18. 2) View self from a holistic perspective Identify strengths and challenges in different life domain areas.

19. Learn how to support students through empowerment. When you do something for someone you teach dependency; when you help someone develop and gain the skills to do it for himself you empower! • Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Chinese Proverb • The ideal teacher guides his students but does not pull them along; he urges them to go forward and does not suppress them; he opens the way but does not take them to the place. - Confucious

22. From On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life (5th ed.) By Skip Downing

23. Wise Choices: Beliefs and Behaviors

24. Creator and Victim Beliefs and Behaviors The greater part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds with us in our minds wherever we go. …Martha Washington • adopt the Creator role, believing that their choices create the outcomes and experiences of their lives. • accept the Victim role, believing that external forces determine the outcomes and experiences of their lives. • master Creator language, accepting personal responsibility for their results. • use Victim language, rejecting personal responsibility by blaming, complaining & excusing. • make decisions carelessly, letting the future happen by chance rather than by choice. • make wise decisions, consciously designing the future they want. From On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life (5th ed.) By Skip Downing

25. Victim or Creator?? • I failed the test because my friends made me stay out partying most of the night. • My car broke down so I took the bus • I got a grade lower than I expected so I discussed it with my Professor. • I can’t pass math so I guess I’ll have to change my major. • My boyfriend kept me on the phone al night and now I failed the test. • The parking on campus is terrible; that’s why I’m always late to class. • Carol is smarter than I am. • I need help; I’ll ask Carol to help me study.

26. Victim or Creator?? • My roommate is always playing loud music and I can’t study so I spoke with the RA to see if I could get another roommate that better matches my needs. In the meantime, I’ll study in the library. • I’ll try to do better, but it’s no use. • To improve my grade I’ll take good notes, ask questions, attend every class, start a study group, and talk to my Professor. If that doesn’t work I’ll try something else.

27. What might you do to help empower a student that seems to be stuck in the “Struggling Student” (Victim) mode? • I’m failing Psychology 101; I just can’t do it. • Can you talk to my Professor about why I got a D on the test? • I have to drop out; I don’t have the money to stay here. • I am failing English 101, can you do some editing for me? • I just can’t function; my boyfriend broke up with me.

28. Activity: Limiting Beliefs Draw one straight line that touches all three of the stars below:

29. Summary: Key Concepts • Self-advocacy: having the ability to identify and meet one’s needs and wants. (know yourself, know your needs and wants, know how to get what you need and want) • Balance: all areas of life are important and each one supports the whole. • Empowerment: teach others how they can succeed according to their own terms.

30. References • Izzo M. & Lamb M. (2002). Raising the bar, Hertafeld, J.A. &Aaron, J.H. (2002). Self-Determination and Career Development: Skills for Successful Transitions to Postsecondary Education and Employment. A paper retrieved July28, 2003 from http://www.nceset.hawaii.edu/Publications/iindex.htm#papers • Yuan, F. (1994). Moving toward self-acceptance: A course for students with learning disabilities. Intervention in School and Cliniic, 29, 301-309. • Field, S., Sarver M., & Shaw S. (2003) Self-determination a key to success in postsecondary education for students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 24, 339-349. Books: • Getzel, E., & Wehman, P. (2005). Going to college: Expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. Baltimore, MD:Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. • Brinkerhoff, L., McGuire, J., & Shaw, S. (2002). Postsecondary education and transition for students with learning disabilities. Austin, TX: Pro-ed. • Downing, Skip (2008). On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. By Houghton Mifflin Company. • Hirsch, G. (2001). Helping college students succeed. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.

31. Contact Information • Julia Kothe, CCP, Assistant Director kothe@cahs.colostate.edu, 491-3469 • Cynthia Tate, CCP, Research Associate cspang@cahs.colostate.edu, 491-6447 • ACCESS Project at Colorado State University • Department of Occupational Therapy • Colorado State University • accessproject@colostate.edu • http://www.accessproject.colostate.edu/ • This presentation was developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (Grant # P333A050015).