Voices of change: bridging past and present in disability self-advocacy

The disability self-advocacy movement emerged and grew through campaigns for governments to close disability institutions and support independent living and community participation for people with intellectual disability. Although there are individual and organisational histories of the self-advocacy movement, not all younger self-advocates have deep knowledge of this history. This article presents findings from a collaborative research project on opportunities for intergenerational learning on self-advocacy. We argue that intergenerational learning and public recognition of the history of the self-advocacy movement is central to acknowledging the significant contributions of self-advocates, learning from their work and stopping repetition of past injustices. Learning and recognition must be reflective and open processes informed by diverse experiences and understandings of disability institutions and self-advocacy.