Advocacy

Progress – change for the better – will not happen without advocacy.

Advocacy is the tool citizens use in our democracy to bring about improvements. Most people think of advocacy in terms of legislation, special interest group lobbying, etc.; but advocacy extends far beyond this context. Advocacy happens through the media, through litigation, through grievance processes in organizations and businesses, through litigation, and through protests and civil disobedience. There is self-advocacy, where one speaks up for one’s rights. There is also community advocacy, which consists of grassroots mobilizing and systems change. Advocacy can come from a letter, or a few words in a meeting, or a rally, or a new law. Advocacy is all around us.

More simply put, advocacy is problem solving used to:

1. Protect rights or change unfair, discriminatory or abusive treatment to fair, equal and humane treatment.
2. Improve services, gain eligibility for services or change the amount or quality of services to better meet the needs of an individual.
3. Remove barriers which prevent access to full participation in community life.

People with disabilities have seen major changes in laws, the service system, and in public attitudes in recent years. Communities have begun to see that people with disabilities have a right to fully participate in all aspects of life.

This awakening began, with great effort and behind-the-scenes preparation, because people with disabilities and their families decided it was time to use advocacy for change.

SEPAC & Advocacy

SEPAC is an advocacy group of parents and school district professionals that work on behalf of students in the Northshore School District who utilize special education services.

These students may have 504 plans and use accommodations, or they may have specially-designed instruction and be on an IEP.

These students may be seeking eligibility for special education, or they may be struggling to stay out of special education.

SEPAC works collaboratively to advocate on behalf of these students and their needs. SEPAC does this through monthly Board meetings, presentations, and committee meetings. SEPAC also stays connected to what is happening legislatively each year, and follows litigation and changes to the law that effect special education and disability rights.

Legislation

SEPAC encourages involvement in legislative advocacy. There are always decisions of significance made involving education and disability in the legislature. There are many ways to be involved. Local developmental disability parent coalitions, housed through the Arc, help parents stay informed of what is happening each session. Parents and professionals can also meet individually with legislators, or write or call legislators on issues of importance. Time is devoted at each SEPAC Board meeting to briefly discussing some of the legislative happenings during each legislative session. One can learn more, including what legislative district one lives in, and which legislators govern that district by checking out www.leg.wa.gov.

Presentations

Advocacy is only effective when one is adequately and appropriately informed. Laws and regulations are perpetually changing in general and special education and in disability service systems. New information is constantly being discovered about types of disability and how students learn. We didn’t understand brain injury 20 years ago. We didn’t know there was a spectrum in relation to autism. Best practices and methodologies have changed. SEPAC recognizes that parents and professionals need information on a continual basis to best meet the needs of its diverse learners district-wide. Past presentations have included topics such as stress and the family; siblings of students with special needs; bullying; autism and social development; mental health, substance abuse and adolescence; brain research and learning; disability culture and history, etc.   SEPAC presentations typically occur on the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Northshore School District Administration Building.