Secondly, problems need to be addressed by the people most affected by them, namely, the consumers of these services and programs. You are the people who know, from personal experience, what is needed to make communities more sensitive to the needs of seniors and people with disabilities. Thus, the first part of the manual is dedicated solely to advocacy - how to speak up for yourself. The second part contains listings of various services, resources and programs of particular interest to seniors with disabilities. We sincerely hope you will find this manual helpful.
Advocacy begins with a problem.
As a person with a disability, this problem could have something to do with the barriers you encounter in the community. It could be a lack of handicapped parking spots in town, hazardous cobblestone sidewalks, or a shortage of accessible transportation services. To solve this problem, something needs to be changed. But you cannot solve it on your own, because the source of the problem does not exist with you. The problem is not your disability.