What is Self Advocacy? Why is it Important?
Self Advocacy is the act of communicating your needs, being able to speak up for your needs. In the most straightforward terms, it is an act of supporting yourself.
Those in the workplace who have a neurodiversity or disability may struggle with self-advocacy, which in turn can negatively impact their ability to disclosure their disabilities or neurodiversity and the needs they may have as an individual.
Organisations often ask us how to encourage disclosure of disabilities and neurodiversity within their workforce. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer, but one strategy that can be used is the encouragement for employees to advocate for themselves. This can lead to the workforce effectively expressing their strengths or challenges and sometimes their neurodiversity or disability.
What is a Self-Advocacy Template:
A Self-Advocacy document serves as a tool to assist employees in recognising and communicating their strengths, challenges, strategies they employ, and the support they require at work. This resource can be utilised in various ways: employees can use it independently or facilitated by a line manager or workplace coach.
We’ve created a FREE template which you can use, with guidelines and an example.
How to use the Self-Advocacy Template
1. Template Completion
Employees with a neurodiversity or disability fill out the document – expressing their strengths, challenges and preferences within the workplace.
2. Handover to Line Manager
Once the template has been filled out, it should be passed over to those lists within the document such as a direct line manager or HR manager.
3. A Better Understanding of the Workforce
Communication and understanding between organisation and their workplace is improved with use of this document.
Additional Resources and Posts...
Encouraging self-advocacy in the workplace
Inclusion in the Workplace – A Benefit for All Involved
