One of the things I think it's so important for our kids to learn their self advocacy and self-determination skills. And one of the best tools we have out there to do that is have them participate in their ARD meetings.
I used to say that I'm going to get them in their ARDs. Now that they're there, I want to make sure that they realize this is their meeting. And I go into classes, I do this game with eighth graders. We talk about transition goals and all the things that are open for them.
And one of the things that I always get them to say is nothing about me, without me. Don't have a meeting, don't talk about my plans and my goals without including me in that meeting.
And so I want them to realize they have a voice in that meeting. I give them a script that they can follow.
And they should really, by the time they're seniors, they should be running their ARD. And they should be able to come in there and say, this is who I am, this is what I need to succeed and this is where I want to go. How are you guys going to get me there? And I think that's so crucial to help them build those self-advocacy skills and be as independent as possible.
Importance of self-advocacy and self determination and strategies that may be beneficial in building these skills.
