December 31, 2024

View The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities’ People & Families Magazine at https://njcdd.org/people-families-magazine/

This article appears on page 12 of People & Families Volume 4, 2024 Love or Survival: The Medicaid “Marriage Penalty” issue

The self-advocacy movement formed in the 1970s in response to discrimination against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In a time when prevailing norms encouraged silence, early self-advocates insisted that they speak up about the issues affecting them, a focus which continues today.

In 2021, Community Options, a national nonprofit that works to provide housing and employment opportunities for those with disabilities, received a grant from the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities to train younger New Jersey residents in self-advocacy. This grant provides funds for a leadership academy program which supports transition planning and programs that focus on self-advocacy.

With some other aspects of the transition, though, the specifics can prove difficult. Kathleen Halligan, Project Specialist at Community Options and an advisor for the Center for Advocacy Leaders, underlines the separation between school and adult services. “I think that there’s always been a big separation between people that are still in school and adult services,” she says. “Sometimes advocacy has been exclusive to the world of adult services. I think we can bridge that gap, but it is difficult.”

Halligan elaborates, “We developed a Leadership Academy for civic engagement. Each year we are accepting 30 individuals in the program, and it is open to everyone in New Jersey, 14 or older, that has a developmental disability. Individuals get paid to attend the sessions. We have a number of guest speakers, with a focus on public speaking, civic engagement, and creating leadership opportunities at local, state, and national levels.”

For those hesitant to engage, with the multifaceted state of self-advocacy today and the disparate methods used to accomplish different goals, the program offers a nonbinding introduction. “We also have opportunities for individuals who don’t want to attend the entire program,” Halligan adds. “Anybody is welcome to come to a session or two as a guest.” Approaches like this, which prioritize the involvement of the most possible people with I/DD through a diverse array of engagement options, promise a renewed and bright future for the self-advocacy movement.