Self Advocacy E-Scan
Though the concept of self-advocacy for people with developmental
disabilities has been growing for over 40 years, it is clear that
many issues remain as people with disabilities and their allies look
to the future of self-advocacy in Minnesota. A self-advocacy environmental
scan conducted in the spring of 2005 consisted of interviews with
47 self-advocates (people with developmental disabilities) and professionals.
The results of the environmental scan were conclusive.
“Funding is the number one issue…there is no institutional
source of funding!” was the key issue identified in the scan.
The fact that there is no systemic form of funding or resources to
develop an infrastructure to support self-advocacy was identified
over and over as problematic to not only the growth of self-advocacy
but the current ability to sustain self-advocacy in Minnesota.
The basic lack of funding,
according to many of those interviewed, continues to have its roots
in the lack of visibility of self-advocacy and the deep discrimination
that continues to exist, especially around people who carry the
label of Developmental Disability. “Many
people with disabilities feel somewhat ashamed, depressed, ridiculed,
and feel they are humiliated. People are limited in how they view
us.” While many believed there is lip service to include people
who carry the Developmental Disability label, they were clear that
discrimination plays a key role in lack of visibility, thus lack
of a sustained effort to champion self-advocacy.
Another key issue that
emerged from the environmental scan was the lack of understanding
of the current structure of self-advocacy. Though it was believed,
especially by self-advocates, that self-advocacy has grown (as
attested to by the rise in conference attendance), there remains
a general consensus that the efforts toward a self-advocacy movement
are sporadic and divided. “There is no state structure,
no region structure, not money structure, not state-wide leadership
structure, no office structure, no issue campaign structure.” While
the efforts of individual groups were clearly identified, the overall
consensus was that there is little in place on a broader level that
unifies self-advocacy.
A Minnesota state team was established in September of 2004 to bring
issues of critical importance in our state to a national meeting
in Washington DC one year later. Minnesota identified lack of support
for self-advocacy as a critical issue. The results of the scan will
be used to launch efforts to strengthen the support of self-advocacy
in Minnesota.
The Self-Advocacy Environmental
Scan was conducted by Susan O’Connor,
PhD and summarized here by Mary Kay Kennedy of Advocating Change
Together. Call Mary Kay Kennedy at 651-641-0297 for a copy of the
environmental scan in its entirety or to find out how to join the
newly forming committee to address issues identified in the e-scan.
