Advocacy and Empowerment: What Does it Mean for Pupils and People with PMLD?

The first people with disabilities to engage in self-advocacy were those with good social and communication skills. In the late 1960s people with physical disabilities who were living in residential and group homes began to question the dependent model of care which they were receiving (Miller and Gwynne 1974); the lack of physical access to buildings (Walter 1971; Jay 1974); and the infringement of their rights (Oliver 1990, 1996).