The impact of a dual-component training program on the self-advocacy skills of children with visual impairment

Self-advocacy, traditionally taught to children with disabilities, has been linked to numerous positive outcomes such as academic success, increased on-task behavior, improved classroom engagement, reduced behavioral issues, and greater self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a targeted program, occurring concurrently with a sports camp, on the self-advocacy skills of boys and girls with visual impairments when controlling for degree of vision. We hypothesized that the dual component, self-advocacy and physical activity training, would increase perception of one’s ability to self-advocate for physical activity. These results showed significant improvements in self-advocacy skills among the intervention group, with no significant differences based on sex, indicating the broad applicability of the intervention. These findings suggest that targeted self-advocacy training can effectively enhance students’ perceptions to advocate for themselves, particularly in physical activity contexts.