Having learning disabilities often means having special needs. As an adult it's up to you to make sure your rights are being respected and that the accommodations you need are available to you. Whether at school or at work, being an advocate for yourself means understanding your rights, understanding how you work best and working with others to ensure that your special needs are met. Let’s focus on how to be your own best spokesperson at school and at work.

Being your own advocate in secondary school

• Attend all your IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meetings. You have a right to be there and should take an active part in the meetings. It's a great opportunity to talk to teachers, administrators and others that are involved with your education (including your parents or guardians) about how you learn and what kinds of services and supports you need to do well in school. Make sure the specific accommodations you need are outlined in your IEP.


• Set goals for yourself and think realistically about reaching them. Part of your IEP process calls for establishing a transition plan as early as possible, outlining your path to graduation, what you want to do after high school and the accommodations you might need after you leave. If you hope to go to university, what subjects do you want to study? What college are you interested in? Will that college permit you to substitute requirements or have them waived? To get into that school, what grades will you need to get and which classes should you take? Don't feel like once you decide on something that it's set in stone - adjusting your goals is an important part of realizing what you want and what it will take to achieve success.


• Be aware of what you're good at, what you struggle with, what activities you have a passion for and what your ideal job or project would be - being able to share this kind of information with others is a valuable part of representing yourself.


• Learn as much as you can about your LD. The more you know about your specific learning disability, the easier it will be for you to figure out how you learn best and the accommodations you will need to be successful.


• Meet with your teachers and counselors outside of the IEP meeting to talk about your classes, about the accommodations you may have (extra time on tests or a note-taking buddy, for example) and other helpful strategies, as well as what you're interested in pursuing next.


• Request that your school update your LD documentation before you leave high school.

Being your own advocate in University

Once you graduate from secondary school, responsibility for attending to your special needs moves away from the educational system and onto your shoulders. It's up to you to make your college career successful. Here are some tips:

• Make sure you arrive on campus able to provide current documentation of your disability.


• Know your rights. You have a right to participate in educational programs without discrimination and to receive reasonable accommodations in courses and exams.


• Meet with your advisors to talk about what you want to learn; discuss what challenges you may encounter and how you can accommodate for them.


• If you need specific support and services, you must disclose your learning disability to your instructors and others who can help you.


• Find out right away if there are any curriculum requirements and how you can best select classes to complement your strengths. For instance, if you have dyscalculia, is there a class that fulfills the math requirement that doesn’t involve a lot of computation?


• Request accommodations early. Don’t wait until the end of the semester to ask for extra time on finals, or tell your professor you would like to substitute an oral presentation on the day before a research paper is due. It is your responsibility to manage your time and to do what you can to succeed.

Being your own advocate at work

• Focus on the skills you have to choose a job that suits your strengths.


• Under the law, you cannot be discriminated against in the workplace because of your learning disability. This means you cannot get fired, demoted or denied opportunities that others are given because you have a learning disability. However, you must be able to fulfill the expectations your job demands. You have a right to reasonable accommodations, as long as they don’t put an unreasonable financial burden on your employer.


• Have proper documentation of your LD and your need for accommodations. This can be a letter or report from someone who evaluated you. It should outline the methods used to identify your LD, an explanation of your LD and how it affects your performance, as well as a recommendation for accommodations.


• Talk to your employer about your learning disability. Information shared must be kept confidential and can be shared with others only with your explicit permission. Be honest and share as much information as is appropriate for your employer to have so that you can work out strategies to help you succeed on the job.