New Voices: Self-Advocacy by People With Disabilities

by Bob Williams (Introduction)

Self-advocacy by persons with developmental disabilities was unthinkable three decades ago. Then, in western Canada and in the northwestern United States, people with disabilities began to speak out for themselves. Today, the movement keeps moving! Persons with developmental disabilities are speaking out and organizing themselves to seek better, non-institutional living situations, social and political equality, and decent jobs with reasonable pay. This collection of original papers, many by self-advocates themselves, provides historical background about the origins of the self-advocacy movement across the Western world—the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, and Australia and examines the status of self-advocacy activities in each of these countries. Finally, it projects the movement’s future as it continues to accelerate worldwide.

273 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1996