This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project on an English self-advocacy organization.In light of recent political and economic developments that have threatened the sustainability of a number of self-advocacy groups for people with intellectual disabilities, I seek to explore how one particular organization managed to survive and grow. In particular, the paper explores themes of management, leadership, and user control, linking these to external perceptions about self-advocacy organizations. The organization in my study developed an 'interdependent' governance model based on key organizational roles for non-disabled advisors and self-advocates which proved popular with external funders. Despite the organization's notable achievements, their success raises questions for the wider self-advocacy movement, notably how leadership capacity can be developed amongst self-advocates.
IntroductionSelf-advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities has been described as "people coming together to speak up for themselves" (DH, 2009: 96). Self-advocacy has been posited as an activity, a process, and an outcome; a space in which people with intellectual disabilities can develop not only their confidence, skills and leadership capacity (Caldwell, 2010), but also a collective identity, providing an essential foundation for grass roots activism (Goodley, 2005; Bylov, 2006;Siska, 2006; CEPF, 2012). Studies have highlighted the 'transformative' potential of self-advocacy in supporting people to challenge normative assumptions about intellectual disability (Goodley, 1997;Beart et al 2004;Tsuda and Smith, 2004) and for providing opportunities for people to expand their social networks and develop long-lasting friendships (CEPF 2010; Changing Our Lives, 2010). 1In England, self-advocacy gained momentum with the publication of Valuing People in 2001, the first White Paper on intellectual disability for 30 years. Although Valuing People had cross-party consensus, its focus on rights, independence, choice, and inclusion mirrored the wider New Labour vision of 'third way' politics -a renewal of social democracy which embodied a middle ground between the market individualism of neo-liberalism and the collectivist state-centred approach of past Labour governments (Giddens, 1998;Newman 2001). In the realm of intellectual disability, service users were invited to contribute to decision-making and planning at the national level by linking to the government's learning disability Taskforce, through the National Forum The contention is that as self-advocacy moves up the political agenda, people with intellectual disabilities run the risk of being co-opted into working for commissioners and service providers, rather than for themselves. This is in spite of the fact that people with intellectual disabilities have made it explicitly clear that they view self-advocacy as an important mechanism to improve aspects of their lives that are not directly related to intellectual disability services (Aspis 1997(Aspis , 2002 L...