Utah UCEDD collaborates on young self-advocates toolkit
Reprinted with permission of
ADD Update, December 2009
Cameron, one of the self advocates who appears on the DVD
A new toolkit brings the voices of young self-advocates into the discussion about how to become more independent.
The DVD and its accompanying guidebook, the Youth Leadership Toolkit, will provide training to families and to service providers who work with youth with disabilities, and most importantly, to young adults themselves.
"The biggest thing I hope somebody would gain from it is to understand that someone else has dealt with everything that they’re dealing with," said Andrea Pitts, a young self-advocate who appears on the Youth Leadership Toolkit DVD.
Pitts is a member of the Becoming Leaders for Tomorrow (BLT) project, which helps youth and young adults with disabilities transition into adulthood. The project is a collaboration between the Utah Parent Center and the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University, under the direction of Judith Holt and Sue Olsen. BLT participants wanted to embed youth perspectives into existing training, said Jeff Sheen, training coordinator for the BLT project. The young advocates worked with partners from the Independent Living Research Utilization, the Center for Persons with Disabilities and seven other entities to produce the toolkit.
On the DVD, young self-advocates address topics like employment, independent living, relationships, self-advocacy and physical exercise. Pitts, who is now a graduate student, spoke about her experience learning to ride a bike.
"I was probably 18 or 19 when I found out about the National Ability Center and the hand bikes," she said on the DVD. "It sounds simple but that was actually one of the most independent kind of situations I had because I was the one that found it, I was the one that implemented
it, and then I was able to ride that sort of bike ... It’s kind of like scratching it off the life list."
The message is that young people with disabilities can be leaders and advocates, not only for other youth with disabilities but for themselves. Too often, young adults don’t know the best way to contribute to their own individual education plans, Sheen said.
"It’s hard a lot of times when you have protective parents that want to do everything for you," said Chris Dodds, a young advocate who spoke on the DVD. "That kind of hinders your success in that area of advocating for yourself and being able to tell someone what you want."
The youth on the DVD acknowledge their parents’ support but also express their plans to be as independent as they can. The toolkit can serve as a conversation-starter for some important discussions on growing up, Sheen said.
Contact: Judith Holt 435-797-7157
