Self-Advocacy for Women & Teens with Disabilities

Thanks to a generous donation from the L'Oréal Fund for Women and an anonymous UK foundation, we have launched three workshops, two for women with disabilities in our work programs and one pilot workshop for girls/teens at our afterschool programs in Israel.  L'Oréal Fund for Women funded our pilot for women last year, and the two women's workshops are going well as expected, based on last year's pilot.

The pilot for the girls/young women is currently on week 11 of 15. The program operates through facilitated groups that meet weekly to discuss topics including gender and socialization; It is going very well, with the girls opening up and talking. More than one of them have expressed gratitude for many of the sessions.

The participants are approximately 10 girls/young women, ages 11 to 21, who attend the Chimes Israel after school program for youth with disabilities at the Enoch School (Tel Aviv). They are living with disabilities such as developmental delays, autism, genetic diseases and syndromes, and physical challenges. Some have additional characteristics such as attention and concentration difficulties, challenging behavior, and more.

The subjects being covered are the lie of beauty ideals; bullying and clique behavior; cyber safety; self-awareness; body image; health and hygiene; sexuality; support circles; happiness; friendships, love and consent; and recognizing, avoiding and seeking help against abuse.

To overcome the challenge of imparting this difficult and complicated subject matter to youth with cognitive disabilities, our presenters are professionals with experience and training in working with this population. The project’s director is a senior professional in our organization who is a social worker with a specialty and background in women’s and disability issues. The project manager is a social worker who observes the sessions and regularly meets with the facilitators for guidance oversee the project. Leading each group are facilitators with experience in both counseling on the subject matter and working with youth with disabilities. The facilitators have received training on the program content, are following its curriculum, and meet weekly with the director for guidance. 

We have designed the curriculum and activities for easy assimilation by using strategies such interactive hands-on activities with anatomical models, yoga, flash cards, photos, games, and movies. We use short and simple words and repeat information. We present important information on cards in plain symbols and drawings. We keep sessions short and frequently repeat concepts using interactive activities and visual tools. Examples are relevant to real-life circumstances. All appropriate teaching styles are used and our facilitators present information in a warm, kind, sympathetic and friendly manner.

The strength of this project is the approach: to provide knowledge, then entrust them to make their own choices. The first, foremost and only goals are empowerment and self-advocacy, because we believe people with disabilities must have agency over their own lives.

We closely collaborate with the local municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo on this program through the Enoch school as well as the public-appointed social workers, who manage each participant’s case. Each social worker works with us to understand each girl's needs in this area, given their personal history and abilities.