Strengthen Your Advocacy Skills by Embracing the Power of Community
/In every workshop I give on How to Advocate for Change, I talk about the power of community. Why? Because I’m a strong believer of tapping into the wisdom and experience of others in your advocacy journey.
Embracing the power of community has been key to many of my advocacy wins. It has also helped me grow as an advocate and mom.
While it might seem like a simple concept, I’m amazed at how many people don’t embrace the power of community. Often because they’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
Here are 4 easy ways to strengthen your advocacy skills by embracing the power of community.
#1 Start local
If you live in a big city, there are likely many groups or organizations you can join or tap into. This could be condition specific (ex. cancer support group), age specific (ex. parents/caregivers of kids with disabilities) or broader (ex. accessibility advocacy group). The list is long and many groups can be found with a simple Google search.
For those of us living in smaller or rural communities, the local resources are often more general and limited. But I have found with a bit of digging you can find local supports.
In my small community, there’s a monthly meetup of parents/caregivers of autistic children. It’s an informal group that meets to share stories and resources.
I’ve attended these meetings as both a mom and a presenter. What I’ve found is at most meetings a question about advocacy is asked. Often a parent is struggling with getting supports in school, and other parents share their personal stories and advocacy tips. Over time, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge from these groups which I’m able to draw upon when needed.
#2 Expand your search
If you can’t find local organizations, or prefer to not share your story with people in your community, look for provincial or state organizations. Thanks to the pandemic, many of these organizations now have online meet-ups as well as webinars.
It’s easier than ever to connect with others going through the same journey and expand your knowledge base. Once again, it’s about gaining the tools you need to advocate before you’re in a crisis. This can mean learning more about a medical condition, understanding you or your child’s rights, hearing stories of people who’ve overcome challenges and just knowing the resources that are available to you when you need them.
While I don’t always attend online meetups (as they are for set date and time), I try to sign up for a webinar a month. These are often recorded, so I’m able to watch them at a time that works for me. And the best part – when I’m advocating, I can reference a doctor or professional I heard from a webinar, showing I’m knowledgeable about the subject so not easy to gaslight.
#3 Be a fly on the wall
I think the most popular way to tap into the community is through Facebook groups. There are Facebook groups for just about anything.
I’m a member of about 15 groups for autism, kids with complex needs, dyslexia and more. As I’m scrolling through my phone, I often come across posts that have tidbits of information, YouTube videos, stories from parents or links to articles.
Without much effort, I pick up bits of information. Over time, the amount of knowledge I’m gaining grows. It’s amazing how this simple scrolling has helped me in my advocacy. I’m able to recite literacy rates, share stories of the impact of lack of reading supports for kids with dyslexia and learn more about ADHD to support my child.
This has been extremely helpful in showing the bigger picture as I advocate. I’m able to show the impact not only on my child, but many, many others.
#4 Ask questions
Now that you’ve found ways to embrace the power of community and grow your knowledge base, don’t forget to reach out when you need help advocating.
When I ask a question in a Facebook group, I’m overwhelmed by the responses. Each time I’ve received great advice, stories of parents that went through a similar situation and resources to help me advocate. It saves so much time and energy vs going it alone.
I’ve also gone to in-person and online meetings to ask for help. This is always embraced as these groups love to help others.
You don’t need to wait until you have a complicated or stressful situation to ask questions. It can be as simple as – how do you talk to a family member about why large gatherings are hard for your child. Trust me – you’ll get lots of responses and be prepared for the conversation.
I encourage you to embrace the power of community. Take the time to find and build your community – in-person and online. You can start slow by simply observing and reading posts. From there you’ll find your footing and can start offering your input and asking questions.
The best part – you’ll realize you aren’t alone on your advocacy journey and have a community you can tap into when needed.
