They Work For Us: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Getting Through to your Elected Officials – Plain Language Edition

Civic engagement means:

• learning about how the government works, and
• making sure that the people we elect to government listen to us.

Right now, many people are getting involved in political advocacy for the first time. People are going to town hall meetings and making phone calls to their members of Congress. They’re writing letters and using social media to organize advocacy groups. This new wave of political advocacy is incredible. And people with disabilities need to be a part of that. 

The first toolkit is “They Work For Us: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Getting Through to your Elected Officials.” This toolkit is about:

• who our elected officials are, and
• what strategies self-advocates can use to get our voices heard by the people we elect to represent us.

“They Work For Us” covers:

• Who our elected officials are
• How to contact your elected officials
• Strategies, scripts, and templates to help you effectively communicate with your elected officials
• How to use social media for political advocacy

A Plain Language Version is for either those with vision-related disabilities or those who would prefer a version without accompanying graphics. Some parts of the toolkit are available as short stand-alone fact sheets. Click the links below to download the toolkit and fact sheets as PDF files. The PDFs are screenreader-accessible.

Download Files for this Resource

• They Work For Us - A Self-Advocates Guide to Getting Through to your Elected Officials
• Fact Sheet -Sending Elected Officials Emails Letters and Faxes
• Fact Sheet - How to Call Your Elected Officials
• Fact Sheet - In Person Meetings with Elected Officials