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(male narrator) To better support
the self-advocacy Movement,
the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
hosted a series of regional summits across the country
with self-advocates, allies, and professionals.
(Max Barrows)
(narrator) In 2011 and 2012,
a total of 9 summits were held,
with every state and U.S. territory participating.
Each state and territory
developed a team of about 10 people,
with an equal combination
of self-advocates and professionals.
The core team members included...
(Liz Weinbtraub)
(narrator) The summits were organized around 4 goals--
1. Find out what's happening in self-advocacy
in every state and territory;
2. Plan steps to strengthen efforts at the state level;
3. Make recommendations for actions at the national level;
4. Make policy recommendations that can lead to a stronger,
more effective, and long-lasting
self-advocacy movement across the country.
(Sharon Lewis)
We felt like it was important to have
all those voices in one room focus on a state basis to talk
about where are you, how's it going, what are your needs?
And what we learned along the way is that we have
an incredibly diverse self-advocacy movement across the country.
We have places where it's incredibly strong,
we have places where it's very very hard
to connect and to stay engaged as a self-advocate.
(narrator) The summits were held over two days.
On the first day, state teams provided background
about the movements in their states.
Each state and territory reported
on the resources they have to support self-advocacy,
their major activities and accomplishments,
and the challenges they face.
(Ricardo Thornton)
(Barbara Coppens)
(Ken Capone with synthesized voice)
(narrator) States reported that self-advocacy organizations
received a wide range of financial and other supports.
Some self-advocacy organizations get support
from local, state, and national sources.
While a very few self-advocacy groups
reported having solid funding,
the vast majority of groups had
very little money to operate.
States reported on a variety of advocacy projects,
including job opportunities,
affordable and accessible housing,
accessible transportation,
postsecondary education opportunities,
reducing waiting lists for services,
and moving people from institutions
into the community.
Other topics include bullying,
transition after high school,
guardianship, and legislative advocacy.
(narrator) Training and leadership development were also
major activities identified by states.
Training ranged from
skill-building workshops to conferences.
Topics included rights,
sexuality and relationships,
guardianship, and voting.
Leadership development included
peer support and mentoring,
youth leadership,
and policy education.
Several states had projects
focused on youth leadership.
Many states reported that they were
educating the public on disability awareness
and accessibility.
Many states had advocacy campaigns
around respectful language
and getting rid of the "R" word.
[applause]
(narrator) A number of states had laws passed
related to respectful language.
A lot of self-advocacy organizations
engaged self-advocates in activities to reach out
to others in the community and tell their stories.
One state passed a law requiring
disability history to be taught in schools.
Another state created a speakers bureau
for people with disabilities to present
on disability awareness across the state.
[male DynaVox voice]
(narrator) The challenges mentioned most often
were lack of funding and support by advisors.
Some states said they could use
support to help them get grants.
Finding and keeping advisors,
especially those who support and empower them
rather than control meetings, was another challenge.
(narrator) Involving more self-advocates
through communication and outreach
was a challenge for many states.
Recruiting and developing leaders,
as well as keeping and engaging
current membership was difficult.
Finding meaningful ways
to engage youth and develop
youth-led advocacy work
was an area where some states
felt they were struggling.
Another major challenge states talked about
was negative public perceptions.
One state felt that many look at self-advocacy
as a "program" rather than a movement.
Many teams expressed the fact that self-advocates
still face significant discrimination
and feel they are not listened to.
(narrator) On the first day of each summit,
state teams met to develop plans
to strengthen and enhance the movement within their state.
A number of common themes
came across the 9 self-advocacy summits--
Support peer training, mentoring,
and leadership development
like serving on boards and committees;
strengthen supports and funding
for self-advocacy at the local, regional, and state level;
Strengthen partnerships
with other disability organizations and allies;
Reach out and involve other self-advocates,
for example, youth and other groups
that are not part of the self-advocacy movement.
Educate the public about disability and self-advocacy,
like getting rid of the "R' word;
Improve community services and supports,
like education, transition,
transportation, housing, and community living.
(narrator) State teams met on the morning of the second day of the summits
to develop recommendations for national actions
and policy recommendations to lead to a stronger,
more effective,
and long-lasting self-advocacy movement across the country.
Here are the common themes that came across the 9 summits--
Hire and provide leadership opportunities
for people with disabilities at the federal level;
The teams' recommendations for national policy
include the following--
Some people call this adding the "fourth leg" to the stool.
Others think of it is as the link
tying together the UCEDDs, P&As, and DD Councils,
making the DD Act stronger.
(narrator) The 9 regional summits
and the 56 states and territories that participated,
produced a number of recommendations
for moving the self-advocacy movement
forward at the national level.
The summits also produced policy ideas
for strengthening the movement
through reauthorization of the DD Act
as well as broader policy recommendations
in areas that affect the lives of self-advocates.
The challenge going forward
will be to keep the momentum going,
particularly in difficult budget circumstances.
As AIDD continues to promote and support
a strong self-advocacy movement at the state and national level,
self-advocates and allies at the local and state level
must be responsible for the next steps
and real action on a lot of the recommendations.