Advocacy

Personal Advocacy

Why Self-Advocate?

This section is designed to help you become a powerful advocate on a personal level by learning how to inform family, neighbors, doctors, friends, the boss, and coworkers about the unique needs of those with hearing loss. The components of self-advocacy are simple; know what you need and know how to get it.

Why is it important to know how to advocate? Hearing loss makes it essential for us to advocate for ourselves if we are to stay connected to family and friends, able to access the advice of doctors, and enabled to compete in working environments.

Being an effective self-advocate, especially for individuals with a hidden handicap such as hearing loss, is all about educating the people around us. It is important that we learn about hearing loss and how it affects our daily activities, communications, and social interactions. The better we understand our disability, needs, and rights, the easier self-advocating will become. Self-education, effective communication, and maintaining a support system are our keys to becoming effective self-advocates.

Self-advocacy is different from getting help through a regular advocacy program. If you have a serious issue, you may seek services from an advocate, who takes your complaint through due process or appeals to attain your desired goal. In self-advocacy the goal is for you to decide what you want, and then develop and carry out a plan to get what you want.