How Can I Be A Self-Advocate?

Everyone has skills, talents and abilities, and with the right support and the right job, anyone can work. Even though this is true, someone might tell you that you cannot work for one of these possible reasons. You can get a job even if someone has said these things to you:

• You don’t have motivation-this means you don’t want to work
• You don’t take initiative-this means you don’t see what needs to be done or you don’t ask about what else can be done
• You don’t work fast enough
• You don’t stay on task-this means you don’t do what you are supposed to be doing
• You don’t wear the right clothes or keep your hair and body clean enough
• You can’t figure out what to do on your own- this means you need someone to tell you what to do
• You aren’t good at being on time
• You don’t ask questions when you need help
• You have trouble interacting with coworkers

You need to be a self-advocate. Tell the people who are helping you that you want a job. Tell them what kind of job you want. Tell them you can be good at this job. Tell them that you want support to help you. The law says that if you want a job, you can have help to find one.