Introduction

Self-advocacy is a crucial skill for students to develop, enabling them to express their needs, thoughts, and feelings to their friends. By practicing self-advocacy, students can communicate when they feel uncomfortable, are treated unfairly, or wish to express their preferences. This skill fosters healthy relationships and mutual respect among peers. In this blog post, we will discuss an easy-to-implement, no-prep activity, along with discussion questions and related skills to help students become effective self-advocates with their friends.

No-Prep Activity

This activity, called “Express Your Needs,” requires no preparation or materials from the educator. To begin, have students sit in a circle. Each student will take turns sharing a situation where they felt uncomfortable, treated unfairly, or had a preference they wanted to express. Then, the student should practice voicing their needs related to that situation using a friendly tone. The rest of the group can provide feedback and suggestions on how the student could effectively self-advocate in that scenario. This activity helps students develop their self-advocacy skills in a supportive environment while also learning from their peers’ experiences.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is it essential to communicate our needs, thoughts, and feelings to our friends?
2. How can we make sure that we use a friendly tone of voice when self-advocating with friends?
3. What are some challenges you might face when trying to self-advocate with your friends, and how can you overcome them?
4. How can self-advocacy help improve our relationships with friends?
5. Can you think of a time when you successfully self-advocated with a friend? What was the outcome?

Related Skills

Developing self-advocacy skills with friends also supports other essential social-emotional learning competencies, such as:

• Active Listening: Being attentive and understanding when friends express their needs, thoughts, and feelings.
• Empathy: Putting oneself in another person’s shoes to better understand their feelings and perspectives.
• Conflict Resolution: Navigating disagreements and finding solutions that are fair to everyone involved.
• Assertiveness: Standing up for oneself and communicating one’s needs and boundaries effectively and respectfully.

Next Steps

Now that you have a better understanding of how to teach self-advocacy skills with friends, it’s time to put these strategies into practice. To access free samples of self-advocacy skill materials and other valuable resources, visit Everyday Speech’s sample materials page. These resources will help you create engaging and effective lessons tailored to your students’ needs, empowering them to build strong relationships with their friends through self-advocacy.