My Role as An Advocate

What motivated me to start advocating for very young children was my love to watch them grow and learn, also the fact that all children have not been dealt equal shares of education.  It is essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro level because you have to begin somewhere. 

At the micro level much help is needed the same as at the macro level. In my research I have found that advocacy is building support for an issue among audiences such as the general public, elected officials, the media, and key opinion leaders. Activities such as educating audiences about a topic, sharing illustrative stories, or working on a solution to a problem are considered advocacy. Individual citizens can always contact their elected officials as constituents. I believe this is what helps you to be community leader.

The resources that it takes to be a state leader on early childhood issues is to be informed of early childhood issues, be present and current and get among other state leaders. You’ve got to be able to communicate with legislators and staff through letters, e-mails, phone calls, or personal visits, testify before relevant legislative committees, work with legislature to compel agency administrators to adopt your proposal; this is just to name a few ideas.

 To mobilize others, engage them on the topic, state the problem, inform others about potential solutions and then call to action what you want done about the issue. Someone who was interested in taking a leadership role, I would suggest they meet with their elected officials, build media relationships, do your homework on the issues, and have your own testimonials.

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I have been impacted by the advocacy of my own mother. I can remember when I was in middle school and having a very difficult time in school. The teachers wanted to put me in special education. This was when special education was not inclusive, you were pulled out from your peers, and made to feel different from the rest. My mother stood up for me and said she may be struggling and having a hard time but we will fight this thing without the label of special education. She made me go to summer school, I recieved extra tutoring during the year and it was hard but I made it. I am thankful that she stood up for me. I may very well have needed special ed services at the time but I believe that my mother felt so many children before my time struggled as well and did not have special ed, nor meds and she felt that with a little more help at home and from other sources I would make it and I did.

This impact relates to my own exploration in advocacy because I see how hard she advocated for me which makes me want to advocte for others. I love children and I want to see the best for them. Through advocacy you can work on providing the best for all children.

Tools for Policy Makers and Advocates Week 1

I am glad to be able to continue this journey with a lot of the classmates I started with. We have come a long way and only have one more class to go. I am so excited and proud of what we all have accomplished with the busy lives that we have.
In this class I look forward to learning about policy makers and how advocates can make change on behalf of the children we serve. I hope to learn how to be an advocate among many policy makers. I pray that I make a difference.

Week 8

1)       One consequence of me being apart of a caring, collaborative learning community is that I am able to learn from others

2)       That they are able to learn from me, that I am able to pour out my knowledge and make a deposit as well as receive.

3)       That I will be able to glean ideas from the professional field and grow. I will be able to take what I have learned from professionals already in the field and put it to action.

One goal I have is to begin to make my voice heard. I plan to begin to advocate in the political realm. We always sit and talk about what is not right and feel like we can not voice it but I have learned through our courses that we can be heard.

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Hypothetical Family Situation

Hypothetical Family Situation

I am a married African American mother of 4 with a child on the way. Doctors have stated that the child will be born legally blind. Our socioeconomic situation is that both parents are working and make a middle class income. Our first language is English. We have no family available to care for our child’s needs other than us. Our family situation will be impacted because we know no other people legally blind, no one else in the family is. We just don’t have the money to afford extra services; we live from pay check to paycheck. The services that our child would probably benefit from are pretty much all of them. I have researched and found that Students with visual impairments need additional help with special equipment and modifications in the regular curriculum to emphasize listening skills, communication, orientation and mobility, vocation/career options, and daily living skills. Students with low vision or those who are legally blind may need help in using their residual vision more efficiently and in working with special aids and materials. Students who have visual impairments combined with other types of disabilities have a greater need for an interdisciplinary approach and may require greater emphasis on self care and daily living skills.  I have also found that children with visual impairments should be assessed early to benefit from early intervention programs, when applicable. Technology in the form of computers and low-vision optical and video aids enable many partially sighted, low vision and blind children to participate in regular class activities. The law also requires that schools provide accessible instructional materials to all students who need them—this can include large print materials, books on tape/CD, and braille books. Consult the “Additional Resources” section of this fact sheet for more information on how to obtain such materials for students.

It will take some getting used to dealing with a child with a visual impairment especially for his siblings so some kind of counseling would also be needed.

http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/visualimpairment

For my hypothetical situation; have I given a complete picture of my family, or are there details missing that I should include in order completing the assignment successfully? If so, what are your suggestions?

Is this situation realistic?

Are there any specific websites I should be reviewing with regard to learning about quality services and programs for my child and family in this hypothetical family situation?

Does anyone have any thoughts, based on my specific family situation, that will affect the early childhood system I am creating?

The Political Will to Improve Early Childhood Systems

 A strategy that I have discovered while working on the assignments in this course that are being used by advocates or organizations to influence the political will toward improving early childhood systems are the opportunities to voice my opinion to my congressmen and those in political position about laws being put in place for early childhood and other issues such as cuts in funding. I am sent e mails by the Zero to Three organization letting me know who to call and what the concern is at this particular time.

The part of this work that appeals to me the most is just being able to have a voice about things that not only concern the children and families I work with from day to day but also that concern me as a  parent of three children. Allowing people to have their voice heard helps you to feel like you were part of the process.

Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

The value that hearing such stories has for early childhood professionals, for the public, and for policymakers and government officials I feel is that you get to hear things on a personal level. It is no longer someone wrote this, or here is another policy we need to pass it becomes personal when you hear a parents story of how an early childhood program has changed their lives. Every year we have our parents write how our program has helped them with their child and what changes they have seen in their child since they started the program and we share this info with our steering committee and with state officials. It also helps them understand the importance of keeping these programs in place for the children and families.
My opinion regarding why or why not parent/family involvement is an essential system element for all strands of service in the early childhood field is that parents need to be very involved in what their children are doing at school, if not the child feels you don't care and the teacher thinks you have no interest. Parent involvement is extremely essential it helps in the child's development.