ADVOCATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIELD OF DEVELOPMENTAL-DISABILITIES - A DATA-BASED CONCEPTUAL-MODEL

We proposed a taxonomy of advocate development in the field of develop mental disabilities derived from the systematic evaluation of a Partne rs in Policymaking program. Three developmental stages evolved: beginn er, involved, and activist. Self-reports of advocacy actions and outco mes were collected from 3 participants with disabilities and 21 parent s before and during training. A follow-up, semi-structured telephone i nterview was conducted 5 months after training ended. Results indicate significant improvements in the number of actions and outcomes report ed by all participants. The activist group had the largest gains in ac tions and outcomes; they reported twice as many outcomes as did the ot her participants. The implications of the proposed taxonomy for partic ipants' recruitment in advocacy training programs were discussed.