Self-advocacy as a form of volunteerism of people with disability

Self-advocacy is both a competence necessary for independent adult life and a form of activity of people with disability in terms of exercising their rights to self-determine. It is also a form of social inclusion and participation, often having a character of volunteer engagement of people with disability in work for their minority group. Although the access of people with disability to the sphere of supporting other people is still limited, self-advocacy seems to be a promising form of changing that. In this article self-advocacy and volunteering are discussed in the context of models of disability. The ways how self-advocacy brings to life the functions of volunteerism which concern the creation of self and benefits for the society in general are described. Conclusions are derived with regard to the meaning of self-advocacy and volunteerism in supporting the social participation of people with disability.