Centering Race in Self-Advocacy within University Disability Services

Centering Race in Self Centering Race in Self- - Advocacy Resources within Advocacy Resources within University Disability Services University Disability Services Julia Rose Karpicz, MA Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Los Angeles

Practitioner Narratives about Self-Advocacy As a disability services practitioner, I was familiar with self-advocacy as a critical practice for disabled students (Daly-Cano et al., 2015; Roberts et al., 2016; Test et al., 2005). However, I began noticing how disabled students of color were being racialized by faculty and staff in response to their self-advocacy efforts. I struggled to find resources on how identity, power, and environment shaped self- advocacy. Instead, I often found deficit narratives about disabled students: Self-advocacy skills are essential for students with disabilities in higher education to possess. But for many, it can be a struggle suggest[ing] there s a deficiency in self-advocacy skills at higher ed institutions Garbutt, 2019 I designed this study to answer the research question: How do disabled graduate students of color define self-advocacy?

Conceptual Framework Test et al. (2005) synthesized decades of research on self- advocacy into a framework Highlights knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership as key components I used this framework as part of an artefact elicitation exercise in student interviews

Name Disability Race Grad. Institution Maria Blind, ADHD, Chronic Health Latinx Private, East Coast Ariel LD, Mental Health, Chronic Health Latinx Public, West Coast Gene Blind Black Public, Southern Participants Paula Chronic Health Latinx Public, West Coast Sam LD Black, mixed Private, East Coast Naomi Mental Health, Chronic Health Mixed race Private, West Coast Evette Blind, Mental Health Black Public, Midwest; Private, East Coast

Race should be at the center Knowledge of Self Race / Identity Knowledge of Rights Knowledge of Environment Communication Leadership

...think about what else is important to you, intersecting identities, how do your identities affect disability or the way you obtain accommodations or combat access barriers or do your daily life routine Race and Identity

Knowledge of Environment There s all these resources and services that you might need and you might be aware of them [or not], so you kind of have to do a lot of research, you have to dig The knowledge is not going to be there unless you investigate it, no one gave that knowledge to me Knowledge of Environment

Centering Race in Self-Advocacy Resources Centralize information about resources on-campus Collaborate on resources and outreach with other identity-centered offices on-campus Open the door in the interactive process to dialogue around salient social identities Be mindful around deficit-framing Discuss self-advocacy and intersectionality in faculty and staff trainings

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