The Role of Youth With and Without Disabilities in Making High Schools More Inclusive

Youth and young adult involvement is an important element in developing community-based systems of care for children and youth with disabilities and chronic health conditions. Family and youth/young adults are the primary consumers who know first hand what works, what doesn’t, and how communities can better meet their needs.

KASA (Kids as Self Advocates) of Family Voices and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Part B Community of Practice recently banded together in presenting a national teleconference, The Role of Youth with and without disabilities in Making High Schools More Inclusive (MP3 audio recording). The teleconference featured youth and young adults with disabilities who spoke from their own experiences about how youth can play an important role in making high schools more inclusive. The four presenters are members of the KASA National Advisory Board and represent youth and young adults with disabilities and special needs on topics such as self-advocacy and equal rights, health care, and the importance of the youth voice in systems change efforts.

The powerful stories told by each of these youth are proof that the input of young people is crucial when developing community-based systems of care in communities. Because much of the care is being designed for and around them, their opinion should perhaps be the most valued. KASA Director Naomi Ortiz emphasizes that for youth to be successful advocates, they need to be interdependent and learn from their peers, older adults with disabilities, and other allies about how to successfully transition into adulthood. It is important to educate young people about the community they live in, the history of disability, and the leaders who came before them in the Disability Rights Movement.

KASA has made much progress in youth self-advocacy. Their website is filled with information written by youth with disabilities on a variety of issues. According to Ms. Ortiz, they are also currently developing a toolkit around working with paraprofessionals that will be finished by March 2009. Because KASA is a National project, they use technology and “virtual” meetings as a way to work on a national disability youth agenda. KASA currently has one state chapter and works to assist them and other state groups by sharing resources and updates about what is going on in different states.