My name is Jennifer Dosanj.
What self advocacy means to me is to be able to express your opinions, to stand up for yourself, and to change people’s perception on individuals living with disabilities.
Self advocacy is representing yourself and your own ideas.
Self advocacy is something new to me. I have always had someone to advocate for me.
Now, as I am in my early thirties, my focus has been on becoming a more independent woman.
I am accomplishing my goal by becoming a new member of the Editorial Board at Community Living British Columbia (CLBC).
Here, I am able to connect with peers, and share my ideas as well as listen to others.
This is a great place for me to practice my assertiveness and communication skills. For example, if I don’t know how to properly answer a question, I will look to my support worker to answer for me. I have realized that I am capable of answering these questions and that I can answer for myself.
One of my small goals is to become more confident in answering these difficult questions without assistance.
I would like to improve my public speaking skills by voicing my opinions and ideas more clearly and by making more eye contact with my audience.
I also enjoy book keeping and I volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club in Delta once a week.
I would love to work as an office assistant; being able to take a typing course to improve my skills would help me reach this goal.
Overall, self advocacy means to express thoughts and concerns about certain topics in your community.
My favourite store is Sephora and I have learned that I need to speak up for myself, even if it is just Sephora employees asking me questions about certain products and my preferences.
