Self-advocacy means "understanding and seeking support for one’s personal rights."¹ Development of these skills should begin early so that by kindergarten you are able to start taking responsibility for your own communication accommodations. It is expected that you will be personally responsible for your needs and actions just the same as any other teen or young adult. The Self-Advocacy Competencies Checklist² provides suggested skills in the areas of personal health and medical information, hearing and other assistive technology use, and accommodations and consumer awareness.

Check the boxes of the skills you feel you know. Once completed, you can use this checklist to track your self-advocacy skill development. Talk with your audiologist, teachers or parents if you need assistance with any of the items.

Once you have completed the checklist, a list of skills that you may still need to learn will be generated. These are skills that should be included in your IEP if you are underage 16, in your IEP Transition Plan if you are 16 and have not graduated, or into your Transition Planner or Self-Assessment Planner (located in the Assessment section) if you have already graduated from high school.




                ¹English, K. (1997). Self-Advocacy for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Austin, Tx: Pro-Ed

                ²Adapted from Transition competency Checklist for Individuals with Hearing Loss, Kate Salathial, 2008.