Frontline Initiative: Advocacy and Voting
The Art of Advocacy
The man on the left is BJ Stasio. He is smiling, has a beard, and dark square glasses. He is wearing a gray knit hat with a Superman logo and a blaze orange sweatshirt with black lettering across the front. He uses a wheelchair that has a black headrest in the back and a probe for driving the chair in the front and on the left-hand side.
The man standing up is Max Donatelli. He is smiling and standing on the right side. He is wearing blue jeans, a blaze orange t-shirt with a pocket on the upper right, a dark belt, and a blue, black, and white baseball hat. He has a gray beard.
BJ Stasio and Max Donatelli
The Art of Advocacy™️ helps aspiring self-advocates (persons with a disability), family advocates, direct support professionals, and allies learn how to stand up for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live, learn, work, and play in their communities. Our efforts are guided by seeking inclusion and overcoming barriers. Lessons from the past are shared. You can learn more about Art of Advocacy on their Facebook page.
For years, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, family members, and disability advocates have had to fight for their rights and their rightful places in their communities. Landmark decisions at the federal level such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Olmsted Decision have come about only because self-advocates, families, and allies have been able to convince policymakers that civil rights measures needed to be put into place to level the playing field. They faced tremendous opposition, apathy, and ignorance. The movie Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, showing the heroics of Judy Heumann and others, is required viewing and helps illustrate this.
BJ Stasio – DSPs tell your stories: https://www.youtube.com/embed/k9olkfSsJ0E
Progress for advocates we work with in the Art of Advocacy is patterned after the sequential skills development of tae kwon do and karate, but using wristbands instead of belts. Students begin by building a foundation starting with the white band level and can progress to higher levels as they meet requirements in a person-centered way. Interested individuals, families, and allies become students of advocacy, starting with identifying their own personal needs and learning to tell their story. As they progress, they may be able to effect change at the system level, but this is not for everyone. Each band level has rubrics that show what needs to be accomplished. There are five band levels, going from white to yellow to green to red to black. Each student progresses at their own pace, with a mentor, and reaches the highest band level they set their sights on.
Developing knowledge and skills of advocacy is facilitated by experienced advocacy mentors, using curriculum and videos. Advocates who show mastery at the black band level are then eligible to become advocacy mentors. Each move up in band levels is celebrated and new expectations are explained. Life-long learning is encouraged. All Art of Advocacy students are considered equal and treated with respect, regardless of band level.
Positive systems change can only be reached by building the capacity of effective advocates. This is exactly why the Art of Advocacy was created—to help people with disabilities learn how to advocate for their best lives and to go on to do systems advocacy if they are willing and able.
Positive systems change can only be reached by building the capacity of effective advocates. This is exactly why the Art of Advocacy was created—to help people with disabilities learn how to advocate for their best lives and to go on to do systems advocacy if they are willing and able. The same goes for families and allies, like direct support professionals, who assist in the process. Building a cadre of effective advocates to make positive systems change is the goal of Art of Advocacy.
Some people reading this are probably thinking, “Oh, another thing that will never work.” But we believe if you give the people the tools to learn about advocacy, and not tell them how to advocate, that will probably go better. The interesting thing about this approach is that everyone is equal, no matter what band level they are at. Everyone is equal. As long as advocacy happens, it can help foster systems change. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, family members, and allies are in the best positions to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the systems they use. And they can benefit from the experience of seasoned mentors and learn that advocacy is truly an art.
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