Module 3: Personal Advocacy Journey

A quote that you find inspirational regarding the role that advocacy can have in the lives of young children and their families.

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”

― William Faulkner

 

•What inspires and excites you most about your advocacy plan and being an advocate?

The first thing that inspired me about my advocacy plan is that I have a foster care in my home and many of the children that are in foster care usually have Reactive Attachment Disorder. The reason I wanted to do it on this is because these children have already been through so much. They need help with this disorder and since they have already been through a lot in their life they need someone that will help them through their problems that they are having.

•What challenges and/or anxieties do you feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts you have targeted?

The challenge that I will come across is that different schools have different policies. They might do different assessments on children that they believe have Reactive Attachment Disorder. A challenge also may be is that the teacher doesn’t know when to do the assessments because they might think that the child is fine.

•What do you believe will be most effective in helping you overcome any challenging emotions you may be feeling with regard to presenting and implementing your Advocacy Action Plan?

The first thing that will help me implement my advocacy plan is that I am the voice of these children. They don’t understand why they feel the way they do and someone needs to help the child to get the services that they need so they can overcome this feeling. I believe that we need to help these children they are young and they don’t understand why they are going through this so they need help from a professional to get to the next step in their life.

•How can you encourage others in their advocacy efforts, and how can others encourage you?

            I will encourage others in their advocacy effort by telling them that as future teachers we are the voices of the children that need our help. It’s important that we are their voice and to help them overcome emotions that they have now. It’s also important that we as teachers pay close attention to all of our children in our classroom because children can start acting different at any time and there is usually a reason behind it. Others can encourage me by letting me read their advocacy plans. There are many things out there that we need to know about so we can help the children.