What Is Advocacy?
Advocacy is about speaking up — for yourself, for others, and for change. It can mean:
- Ensuring your voice is heard in decisions about your own life
- Helping others access their rights and entitlements
- Pushing for systemic change in laws, policies, and attitudes
- Raising awareness and challenging misconceptions about CP
Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy is one of the most powerful skills a person with CP can develop:
- Knowing your rights and entitlements
- Communicating your needs clearly — whether through speech, AAC, or support
- Making decisions about your own life and care
- Speaking up when something isn't right
- Asking for help when you need it
Self-advocacy doesn't mean doing everything alone. It means being at the centre of decisions about your own life.
World CP Day
World Cerebral Palsy Day is held on 6 October each year. It brings together people with CP, families, organisations, and communities in over 100 countries to raise awareness, celebrate, and push for change.
Activities include community events, social media campaigns, awareness-raising at schools and workplaces, fundraising, and celebrations of the CP community. Visit worldcpday.org for more information.
Get Involved
- Share your story — personal stories are one of the most powerful tools for changing attitudes
- Join a peer group — connect with others, learn from each other, and amplify each other's voices
- Participate in research — research registries, surveys, and clinical trials all need participants
- Contact your local MP — tell them about the issues that matter to the CP community
- Volunteer — CP organisations always need volunteers for events, programs, and committees
- Donate — supporting CP research and services makes a difference
- Educate others — correct misconceptions when you encounter them, with patience and facts
Systemic Advocacy
Systemic advocacy targets the policies, systems, and structures that affect people with CP:
- NDIS reform — ensuring the scheme works for participants, not against them
- Accessibility standards — pushing for stronger, enforced accessibility requirements
- Health system improvements — better adult CP services, pain management, and mental health
- Employment — breaking down barriers and challenging employer attitudes
- Media representation — ensuring people with CP are represented accurately and positively
Nothing about us without us. The CP community should be leading the conversations that affect their lives.