Student Advocacy Toolkit
Students shared their experiences advocating for accommodations and more in this live panel in June 2021.
This guide will help deaf students understand their rights, options for effective accommodations, and considerations for accessibility across different settings. captioned media that meets quality standards.
What is Self-Advocacy?
Self-advocacy is the ability to articulate one’s needs and make informed decisions about the support necessary to meet those needs. Self-advocacy is an important skill to express what you need in school, the workplace and the community. Effective self-advocacy involves four important parts:
Knowledge of self
Knowledge of rights
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Strong self-advocacy skills help you get what you need and have control over your accommodations.
Self-Advocacy Topics
Self-advocacy is the ability to articulate one’s needs and make informed decisions about the support necessary to meet those needs. It requires four important elements: knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication skills, and leadership skills. For individuals with one or more disabilities, including deaf individuals, an increase in self-advocacy skills contributes to an increased quality of life, sense of agency, and overall well-being.
Self-advocacy is a lifelong endeavor that can never be learned too early or too late in life. Practicing self-advocacy is a critical element of the self-advocacy developmental process and individuals who do it are better prepared to self-advocate in the future.
Note: The website for deafselfadvocacy.org has been taken down since the infographic was created, and the image has not been updated. The full resources now reflect an updated link: www.interpretereducation.org/deaf-self-advocacy.
Deaf teenagers already have a lot on their minds, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. And like all teenagers, they are experiencing lots of feelings of uncertainty, anticipation, and insecurity as they navigate the transition from child to adult. That’s where self-determination can help — during the pandemic and beyond.
What is Self-Determination?
Self-determination is about acting or causing things to happen in your life so that you can reach your goals. There are three parts to it: decide, act, and believe.
And it’s powerful: Research shows deaf youth with higher levels of self-determination during high school are more likely to enroll in college, live independently, have positive self-beliefs, make more money at work, and have more opportunities for career advancement. People who are self-determined are good problem solvers because they figure out how to reach goals at school, work, and home, even when they run into problems.
Setting and making plans to achieve self-determination goals needs to be part of deaf students’ transition planning in high school, which should include the use of well-designed and accessible assessments.
Measure Your Strengths
The National Deaf Center collaborated with Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities to translate the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR) from English to American Sign Language (ASL).
This online assessment asks about how youth feel about their ability to be self-determined: to make choices, set and go after goals, and make decisions. Designed for youth between the ages of 13 and 22, it takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
When students complete the assessment, they receive a report about their strengths and areas of need, which can then be used to set goals and develop plans.
Tips for Building Self-Determination Skills
During the COVID-19 pandemic, with many schools closed and some transition planning services on hold, instilling and strengthening self-determination skills can be done online at home. Here are six tips.
Take the self-determination assessment
This short online assessment of self-determination skills (SDI:SR) helps deaf youth better understand their strengths and weaknesses related to making choices, setting goals, and believing in themselves.
Review the student report
After completing the SDI:SR, students will receive a student report with their score, along with an ASL video that explains what the report means. Students can share this report with their families, teachers, and vocational rehabilitation counselors, to help develop plans for strengthening self-determination. Families and professionals can use a report guide to work together on a plan.
Decide on goals that align with personal preferences
Encourage students to think about getting ready for life after high school, and their goals for continuing their education, getting a job, and living their life. Use the Choose Your Future! Activity Kit to discuss their strengths, interests, and needs. Then empower them to decide on goals that align with those personal preferences.
Make a plan
Students can work with their families, teachers, or vocational rehabilitation counselors and use the Choose Your Future! Activity Kit to develop a detailed plan for reaching their goals. These goals can then be integrated in transition planning, like individualized education plans (IEPs), vocational rehabilitation meetings, and pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS).
Play Deafverse to practice skills
Deafverse is a free online game that gives deaf youth a safe space to practice applying self-determination skills at home, in school, and in the community. Expansion activities are also available in downloadable Strategy Guides.
Encourage deaf youth to believe in themselves
Role models are valuable — deaf youth benefit from learning how deaf adults navigate barriers to succeed at school, work, and in their personal lives. Many online resources are available that share stories from deaf adults. Check out #DeafSuccess videos and #DeafAtWork stories from National Deaf Center, #DeafAtWork videos from National Association of the Deaf, and #RealPeople from DPAN.TV.
Plan Your Future: A Guide to Vocational Rehabilitation For Deaf Youth (English | Spanish)
VR Checklist (English | Spanish)
Deaf youth, like you, have many different hopes, dreams, and goals. Many programs and services are available to help you succeed. One important program is vocational rehabilitation (VR), which helps you plan to reach your educational and career goals. VR is helpful, but the process of receiving services and the language that VR agencies use can be overwhelming!
This guide summarizes the process and shares important information that will help you get the services you need to succeed. Keep in mind that each state has its own VR system, so each state has a slightly different process. For more information, check out the glossary of terms and links to additional resources at the end of this document.
Self-Determination for Deaf Youth ( English | Spanish )
What is Self-Determination?
Self-determination is about acting or causing things to happen in your life so that you can reach your goals. There are three parts to it: decide, act, and believe.
People who are self-determined are good problem solvers because they figure out how to reach goals at school, work, and home, even when they run into problems.
Setting and making plans to achieve self-determination goals needs to be part of deaf students’ transition planning in high school, which should include the use of well-designed and accessible assessments.
Measuring Self-Determination: The Self-Determination Inventory
The National Deaf Center collaborated with Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities to translate the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR) from English to American Sign Language (ASL).
This online assessment asks about how youth feel about their ability to be self-determined: to make choices, set and go after goals, and make decisions. Designed for youth between the ages of 13 and 22, it takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. To take the SDI:SR in ASL, click on ‘American Sign Language’ and “One-time SDI for Students”, enter your first and last name and click “begin the SDI:SR.”
After completing the SDI:SR, students will receive a student report with their score, along with an ASL video that explains what the report means. Students can share this report with their families, teachers, and vocational rehabilitation counselors, to help develop plans for strengthening self-determination. Families and professionals can use this report guide to work together on setting goals and developing plans.
Using the Student Report in Transition Planning
Students can work with their families, teachers, or vocational rehabilitation counselors by using the Choose Your Future! Activity Kit to develop a detailed plan for reaching goals that are aligned with their personal preferences. These goals can then be integrated in transition planning, like individualized education plans (IEPs), vocational rehabilitation meetings, and pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS).
Deafverse is a free online game that gives deaf youth a safe space to practice applying self-determination skills at home, in school, and in the community. Additional expansion activities are also available in downloadable Strategy Guides.
Transition is the process all students go through as they move from a high school setting to what lies beyond. Transition programs assist students and their parents as they plan for life after high school in a proactive and coordinated way. An effective transition program provides students with the tools and the confidence to assume responsibility for their educational and employment decisions as they move into adulthood.
Transition planning is essential for deaf students, who experience unique educational and life challenges as a result of their hearing loss, such as communication barriers, lack of effective accommodations, and intentional and unintentional discrimination.
Learn more
An important part of self-advocacy is to know the laws that protect you as you continue school or training after high school.
One of these laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all places open to the public, including educational institutions:
They must provide equal opportunity for participation in all activities and services.
Title II applies to public training programs, colleges and universities.
Title III applies to private training programs, colleges and universities.
The U.S. Department of Justice defines effective communication as communication with individuals that is “equally effective as communication with people without disabilities.”
Effective communication is an important part of the ADA. This means training programs, colleges and universities need to provide appropriate accommodations such as sign language interpreters, speech-to-text services, captioned media, assistive listening devices, or others to ensure effective communication.
Part of self-advocacy is making sure you have all the information you need when you start applying to colleges, universities or career training programs. Here are a few ways to get started:
Apply to receive free Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services. VR offers a variety of support for deaf individuals to become employed. VR may also help pay for college, assistive technologies for effective communication, computers, books, supplies and many other services. Visit NDC’s Plan Your Future page for more information.
Find out if your college choices are inclusive and accessible. ACCESS is More Than Accommodations identifies six key components of accessibility: Access, Campus Technology, Communications, Environment, Services, and Social Engagement.
Request access for in-person or virtual campus tours. See Requesting Accommodations for more information.
When you have narrowed down your college search, review the standardized tests (like the ACT, SAT, Accuplacer, etc) that are needed as part of the admission requirements. Find out who to contact for testing accommodations and what documentation you need to provide.
Applying to the DSS Office
Colleges and universities will have a point-of-contact or disability student services (DSS) office where people can request and receive accommodations to access all the courses, programs and activities the campus has to offer.
You can usually find a point-of-contact for the office by searching the school’s website or checking the student handbook.
Types of Accommodations
Before meeting with the DSS office, have an idea of the accommodations you would like to request. Some commonly used accommodations by deaf students include, but are not limited to:
Meeting with the DSS Office
Have copies of your disability documentation, such as an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), 504 Plan or medical records from a provider such as an audiogram.
Be prepared to share information about how your disability impacts access to learning and your experience with using different accommodations. See this checklist and sample questions to help guide you and the DSS office in reviewing accommodation options in a variety of settings.
Consider how accommodations may vary for you. For example, accommodations in an online class may be different from when meeting face-to-face. You may also want to discuss what type of accommodations will be the best fit based on the information being shared, like for complex/technical courses.
Have a list of questions ready, such as:
Does the school or program have experience providing the accommodations you are requesting?
What should you do if you need to cancel services for a class?
How do you request services for outside class activities and events?
What if your service provider does not show up for class?
Will the service provider(s) be consistent for each class?
Be flexible and try a combination of accommodations to find the best fit, depending on the class size, content being provided and teaching methods. For example, some students prefer to use speech-to-text services for large lecture halls and then sign language interpreters for smaller group discussions.
Are accommodations only for my classes?
Accommodations are not limited to the classroom. You can request accommodations for activities on-campus, such as tutoring sessions, meeting with financial aid, student health services (including mental health), study abroad programs, internships, athletic programs, student programming and extracurricular activities like sororities/fraternities. Check with your disability services office what the procedure is for requesting accommodations for these types of activities.
What if I don’t get the accommodations I need?
If you do not get the accommodations you need or were approved for in a timely manner, there are steps you can take to advocate for your access. Many times your concerns can be addressed without having to file a formal complaint.
Sometimes you may need to go through a complaint process when your concerns are not being addressed appropriately. Below are some steps and tips to be aware of when you have to file a complaint due to discrimination or accessibility and accommodation issues.
Review the school’s policy on how to file a complaint
Most colleges and universities have a student handbook that explains how to file a complaint related to accessibility and discrimination. You may have to go through the disability student services (DSS) office or many campuses have an ADA Coordinator, Dean of Students, or Office of Equity and Diversity that handle these types of issues.
Collect all the information
In preparation for filing a complaint, gather the following information:
Copies of emails, requests you made, or any other documented evidence that can be shared electronically.
A list of people (and their contact information) who have been involved with your concerns, including coordinators, schedulers, management, interpreters, service providers, instructors, etc.
A list of dates and times when you made requests (and who the request was sent to), including any follow-ups to your requests, and the outcome of the request.
A clear statement of how the current accommodations process failed to provide you with equal access.
A short statement that outlines what changes you would like to see to resolve the situation.
Additional advocacy support
If the school does not provide an appropriate response or access after your complaint, reach out to the following organizations for additional support:
Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the oversight agency that handles discrimination complaints against educational institutions, such as colleges and universities. As a federal agency investigating a complaint on the basis of disability, there are various outcomes that can occur, including enforcement letters (if they find an institution is out of compliance), settlements, or federal litigation. Find your regional OCR office and contact them for additional support.
Every state has a disability rights organization that provides legal advocacy services for people with disabilities. Search the National Disability Rights Network list of state affiliates and contact them for legal guidance and support.
ADA National Network has regional centers with ADA specialists who can provide information about access and accommodations under the law.
National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Law and Advocacy Center has a legal team that addresses a wide range of civil rights concerns for deaf individuals around the country. They provide free support for routine inquiries, information, advocacy support, advice, and referral. Email [email protected]. They also have the following resources:
Student FAQ
- Can I apply to vocational rehabilitation if I’m still in high school?
- How can vocational rehabilitation help me?
- How can I find a vocational rehabilitation (VR) office near me?
- How can I connect my hearing aid or implant to access my online courses at home?
- The disability services office says they have no money or I have to pay for my own accommodations. Is it my responsibility to pay?
- How can I prepare if colleges continue online classes in the summer and fall?
- What are some ways to manage the switch to all classes being online now?
- What can I do when my video is slow, fuzzy or loses its connection?
- What resources will help me advocate for my needs with the disability services (DS) office?
- What are some tips for success (shared from other students)?
- What are some strategies when working with remote interpreters or speech-to-text providers?
Additional Student Resources
Take Control of Your Online Learning: Tips for Deaf College Students
Using Hearing Assistive Devices at Home: 5 Tips for Deaf College Students
Assistive Listening Systems 101: Tips for Students
Template Student Evaluation Form
Interactive Process Tools: Deaf Student Interview Checklist and Sample Questions
