Advocacy Assignment:  The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your skills in developing an advocacy campaign regarding an issue that is important to people with a developmental disability.

1. Choose an advocacy issue related to developmental disabilities.  This should be a specific issue, not a general concern.
2. Research this issue - find out  how serious the issue is, the impact it has on  people with developmental disabilities and their families, and what advocacy has been done on this issue (if any).  Use at least 10 resources for  your research, 5 of which must be media (newspapers, TV or reputable magazines) Attach a summary of this research to your assignment as an Appendix with proper referencing and a Bibliography
3. Write an outline of how you would conduct your advocacy campaign:
   • Introduce the issue in an opening paragraph
   • Identify your key message
   • Describe the goals for your advocacy campaign
   • List the people or organizations which you would get involved to help you with your campaign
   • Identify barriers to the success of your campaign, including people, organizations, and other factors that might make it difficult for you to achieve your goals and discuss how you will deal with these barriers
   • Describe the specific activities you would undertake

       4. Develop a 1 page flyer which you would distribute to market your campaign

       5. Conclude your assignment by discussing how achievement of your advocacy goals will improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities.