Young people come to realize, sometimes painfully early, that it isn't always possible to depend on adults to make sure they are treated safely, fairly, and legally. When teens are faced with situations that are unfair, immoral, illegal, and unjust, they do not need to be victims. They can learn to speak up for themselves effectively to improve their own lives and the lives of others. The skill of self-advocacy rarely comes naturally for teens. Self-Advocacy: The Ultimate Teen Guide offers a set of skills for young people to sort through and acquire and encourages them to speak up about what is bothering them. The book gives them helpful tools they can adapt to deal with adults they must work withand in some cases againstin order to come to a solution to their problem. Self-Advocacy provides information teens need to have to advocate for themselves. The introduction and first three chapters explain what self-advocacy is; identify when and why it might be necessary for teens to speak up for themselves; provide a step-by-step guide on how to self-advocate successfully; and offer specific, real-world advice about how to wisely use the power of the media to publicize their cause. Seven issue-specific chapters follow. Each topic is treated in a dignified, organized, and comprehensive way, providing information teens can use and resources they can draw upon. The issues and information in those chapters deal with the real world and don't shy away from the difficulties young people encounter every day, such as personal rights, school issues, learning disabilities, physical disability, sexuality, legal issues, and foster care. Each chapter includes the voices and experiences of teens who have encountered issues and decided to speak up for and get what they need. Teens who learn how to advocate for themselves and then act are not only taking steps to right whatever wrong they have been facing, they are also preparing themselves for a successful adult life.

 

 

This book is part of a book series called It Happened To Me .

There are 232 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2007 by Scarecrow Press .

Cheryl Gerson Tuttle has more than thirty years of experience in education, counseling and advocacy. She is co-author of five other books including Thinking Games to Play with Your Child, Parenting a Child with a Learning Disability, Challenging Voices, Parenting a Child with a Behavior Problem, and Learning Disabilities: The Ultimate Teen Guide. Cheryl Gerson Tuttle has more than thirty years experience in education, counseling, and advocacy. She is the coauthor of five books, including Learning Disabilities: The Ultimate Teen Guide (Scarecrow, 2003), and the author of Medications: The Ultimate Teen Guide (Scarecrow, 2005). JoAnn Augeri Silva is an award-winning writer, editor, public relations professional, and journalism teacher whose work has appeared in numerous publications.

This book has the following chapters: Part 1 Acknowledgments Part 2 Introduction Part 3 1 Why You Should Be Your Own Advocate Part 4 2 How to Self-Advocate Part 5 3 Dealing with the Media Part 6 4 Personal Rights Part 7 5 School Issues Part 8 6 Learning Disabilities Part 9 7 Phsycial Disabilities Part 10 8 Sexuality Part 11 9 Legal Issues Part 12 10 Foster Care Part 13 Bibliography Part 14 Index Part 15 About the Authors