How We Grew Our State

As a result of participation in the AIDD Heartland Self-Advocacy Network project each state grew in their self-advocacy efforts which were surprising for all of us.  This was different for each of our states based on what each of our current goals and needs are.   We were all able to better address the most important needs for people with disabilities and their families by talking to our friends in the self-advocacy movements in our region.  One major gift the Self Advocacy Coalition of Kansas was able to share with all our states was their experience with the Kansas Leadership Center.  We all knew that making sure self-advocates in leadership positions is very important and their partnership helped the rest of our states know how to make this a priority.  It was clear we all had different challenges but knew common approaches to better address these challenges.