A Two-Step Framework for Teaching Self Advocacy
Teaching students how to advocate for themselves is a huge part of being a middle and high school SLP. I would say that every other IEP meeting I attend, questions about communication concerns are met with responses like, “They’re not self-advocating,” “We need them to speak up more and tell us what they need,” or “I wish they’d advocate for themselves more often.” Almost every teacher I’ve ever met wants to help their students and meet their classroom needs, but they’re busy trying to teach class and manage everyone’s needs, alongside all of their other duties. And the same will be true in college, in a job, at the electric department, at the bank… Having the skills to effectively and efficiently self-advocate is vital for high school and beyond.
Real talk: a few hours after I began this intro, I called a teacher who had asked to discuss a student with me. He’s not in speech, but told her that he wanted to be able to better communicate what he needed. She was asking for advice about how to write a goal for him. I’m now working on an email filled with different goal options for her. I’ll share it with you soon!
One thing I’ve noticed when asking students to practice advocating for themselves is the tendency to either make a statement or ask a question, but rarely both. And sometimes, those are limited to “I need help,” or “Can you help me?” It’s a good start, and for some students, it’s the holy grail! But for the most part, I’ve realized that limiting their self-advocacy to one or the other comes with limitations, especially for students who are participating in grade-level coursework alongside other social and community activities. They need more in their toolbox!
I call my method the “Tell them, Ask them” approach. Let’s talk about it.
Put yourselves in a student’s shoes for a bit. This is how I approach it with them.
What can you tell them?
What is actually going on in this situation? We can’t assume that the person we’re talking to will know what’s troubling you, the backstory of a peer conflict, or whatever. We have to tell them, and we need to be as specific as possible. This gives the helper the context they need to move forward. We call this a statement.
What can you ask them?
What do you need in this situation? Just like we can’t assume the helper will know the context, we also can’t assume they’ll know the best solution to the problem, so if you have something in mind, ask them about it! Yes, they might say no, and that’s fine! But they’ll know that you put some thought into it and aren’t just coming to them with a problem and no solutions… or worse, just trying to get out of doing something.
Genuinely don’t know what to ask? That’s cool, too! Try saying something like, “Do you have any ideas that can help me with this?”
Either way, we call this a question.
One, The Other, or Both
Some situations call for a statement and a question. Some situations call for one or the other. Part of self-advocacy is using your critical thinking skills to reason through a situation first and determine what you need to do next. It might also require some self-regulation on your part if you’re angry or upset about something. Self-regulation and self-monitoring are important precursors to self-advocacy!
An Example from a Therapy Session
In the first therapy session addressing this skill with a student recently, this is how we worked through it. First, I talked them through our process similar to how I wrote it above!
Then, we looked at a situation. I used this one from a document I downloaded from Arleta High School. (As a note, there are some grammatical errors in the document, so I’d advise retyping it somewhere else if you decide to use it. I also changed a little bit of the wording.)
Jackie knows that she has a problem if she does not sit toward the front of the room. Her teacher has given her a seat in the back of the room and it is difficult for her to see.
Me: Pretend you’re Jackie and I’m your teacher. What is one thing that you can tell me?
Student: that she can’t see the board if she’s in the back of the room
Me: Good! Now, what is one thing you can ask me?
Student: if I can sit closer to the front
Me: Perfect. Now, let’s act it out. I’m your teacher, and you’re Jackie. Use “I” in your statement and question.
Me as teacher: Hey Jackie, what’s going on?
Student as Jackie: I’m having a hard time seeing the board from the back of the room. Could I move to a seat closer to the front?
Me as teacher: Of course, thank you for letting me know.
Me: Great work, that was perfect! One more question for you: I started that conversation with Jackie by asking her a question first. What would you do if you had to get my attention before telling me your statement and asking me your question?
Student: Raise my hand or go to the desk after class.
Me: Yes, those are good options. Let’s try just the beginning again. Pretend you’re Jackie and I’m your teacher, and you need to get my attention. My name is Mrs. Smith.
Student as Jackie: Hey, Mrs. Smith, can I ask you a question?
Me: Perfect! Now I know that you’re about to talk to me about something. I know what problem you’re having, and I know that you have an idea of how to solve it. I’m ready to help you.
Additional Resources from the Blog:
Why Self-Advocacy is Important
Coming soon: Foundational Language and Executive Functioning Skills for Self-Advocacy
Coming soon: Self-Advocacy Goal Bank
