Self-advocacy is speaking for oneself.  Self-determined people are their own advocates.

Why is self-advocacy important? Because people are more likely to get things they want in their lives and “push” the system if they:

- Know what is important to them.
- Know what is possible.
- Have substantial control over resources available.
- Feel they are respected and trusted.
- Feel they have a partnership with those who are helping to plan and support.

As young adults become strong self-advocates, they learn to maintain their principles, dignity and faith without compromise. Their values are strong and they have the ability to act on their own behalf.

History of Self-Advocacy
The seeds of the self-advocacy movement can be traced back as far as 1968, when a Swedish parents’ organization held a meeting for people with developmental disabilities. The people at the meeting spoke out about the changes they wanted in the programs that were run by their parents. During the next five years similar meetings took place in England and in Canada. A small group of people from Oregon went to one of those conferences, but they felt that professionals dominated it. They started planning to have a conference in Oregon that would be run by people with disabilities.

The People First movement began in Oregon on January 8, 1974, at a conference-planning meeting. At the meeting one man talked about being labeled “mentally retarded” and said, “I want to be known as a person first!” “People First” was chosen as the name for the convention, which was held in October 1974.

Self-advocacy groups sprang up all over the United Sates, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, during the next 10 years. In 1984 the first International Self-Advocacy Leadership Conference was held in Tacoma Washington.

In the US, the self-advocacy movement continues to grow. In many states, local groups have come together and formed statewide organizations that have boards of directors (most or all of whom have disabilities) and employees (who may or may not have disabilities) that carry out the wishes of the self-advocates who are the members.