SECTION 1
FINDING YOUR PLACE AS AN ADVOCATE
Advocacy happens at the federal, state, and even local levels. This guide focuses on how advocacy works within state government.
What this section is for
This section is meant to help you understand your role as an advocate, why your experience matters, and help you get grounded and get started.
You do not need to decide what issue to focus on yet.
Use this section to:
- Understand what advocacy means at the state level
- See how personal experience fits into advocacy work
- Begin drafting a basic “story of self” you can build on later
Words to know
· Advocacy
Advocacy The process of trying to persuade someone to support your position or consider your point of view. You can advocate for yourself and others, and within government systems your advocacy can influence public policy. We often call this “policy advocacy.”
Advocate Someone who supports and promotes a cause or idea. If you share your experience, opinion, or perspective to help influence decisions, you are an advocate.
Elected official Someone chosen by the public to represent them in government. In this guide, these terms include state representatives, state senators, and the governor. [We only use “Member of Congress” or “Congressman/woman” to refer to elected leaders at the federal/national level, not at the state level.]
State lawmaker or state legislator A person who writes and passes laws at the state level. These terms usually refer to state representatives and state senators. Some states use different titles, such as delegate or assembly member. You’ll see later, in looking at your own state’s legislative website, what language is used if you are not already familiar with that.
State agency A unit of state government that carries out laws, programs and services, such as Medicaid or public education.
What is state advocacy?
The federal government helps to fund, supervise and support various programs, such as Medicaid. But many decisions about how to run these programs are made at the state level. On top of that, state governments take other actions that shape daily life, including education, health care, housing, and services.
State advocacy happens when someone shares their experience with a state lawmaker or agency staff in order to influence these decisions and actions.
Advocacy does not require:
- Being a policy expert
- Speaking for an organization
- Knowing the “right” words
It starts with sharing what you know from your own life.
Your role as an advocate
It is easy to assume that your priorities for government action should be obvious, logical and supported. It is also easy to assume that if someone disagrees with you, they do not care.
In most cases, neither is true.
State lawmakers represent a large number of people. Depending on the state, that can range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of constituents. That means they are balancing many needs and perspectives at once.
What you bring as an advocate is more than expertise – you bring lived experience.
No one else has your exact experiences, challenges, or hopes. Sharing those clearly and respectfully helps lawmakers understand how decisions affect real people.
One effective way to do this is through storytelling.
Storytelling basics
People are more likely to remember information when it is shared as a story rather than as facts alone.
A good story:
- Helps information make sense
- Makes impact easier to understand
- Gives the listener a reason to care
Advocacy stories have one key difference from everyday stories.
They are action-oriented.
Research shows that people are up to
times more likely* to remember information when it is delivered through a story.
(*Jennifer Aaker, Stanford Graduate School of Business)
That means you are sharing your experience to help someone decide to do something, such as:
- Protect funding for a service that matters to you
- Adjust a rule so it better includes autistic individuals
- Commit to learning more or taking a next step
Boundaries that protect trust
Advocacy is built on trust.
That means:
- Stories should reflect real experiences
- Information should be accurate to the best of your knowledge
- You do not exaggerate to make your story stronger
You are not expected to know everything, but it’s best to be honest.
A simple frame for telling your story
When building a house, a builder starts with a strong frame. That frame shapes everything that follows.
You can use the same idea when preparing an advocacy story.
The S.P.E.A.K. acronym gives us that frame for advocacy.
This frame offers structure you can adapt to your own voice and experience.
S
Be specific Focus on one issue, one example, or one moment.
P
Be personal Share how it affects you and why it matters in your life.
E
Be educational Aim to be helpful. Lack of information does not mean lack of care.
A
Make it actionable Share one clear thing the listener can do.
K
Be kind Be kind to yourself about pace and expectations, and kind to others.
A message from advocates
Tyler and Tonya Haynes
Tyler is an autistic self-advocate. Tonya is his mom and advocacy partner.
Before meeting with lawmakers at an Autism Speaks Advocacy Day event, Tyler practiced using written guidance and a sample script provided during the event.
“I practiced my introduction and sharing a fact about autism. I filled in the script ahead of time and thought about what was important to me.”
He reviewed materials with his mom and practiced in a group setting before Advocacy Day.
At first, Tyler felt nervous.
He says “It’s okay to feel uncomfortable. There are people here to help you.”
Tonya noticed the difference.
“Once Tyler had the materials and time to practice, I saw his confidence grow. He became more comfortable and proud sharing his own experiences. And I’m proud of him too!”
What this shows:
- Advocacy storytelling is learned
- Practice builds confidence
- Preparation reduces uncertainty
- You do not have to do it alone
Optional practice: My advocacy story
If you want help getting started, this guide includes a short online worksheet that walks you through a basic “advocacy story.”
This resource helps you:
- Identify what matters most to you
- Organize your experience using the S.P.E.A.K. frame
- Create a foundation you can return to later
You can complete it now or later.
You do not need to perfect it.
You can return to it whenever it feels useful.
What you've accomplished so far
- You explored how personal experience fits into advocacy
- You began shaping a story that reflects what matters to you
- You may be wondering how stories like yours connect to real decisions
The next section looks at how advocacy works inside state systems over time.