No matter what your campaign is about, there will be people with intellectual disabilities who will have first-hand experience with the issue.

 

Whether that is:

• disability rights

• rights of children

• climate change

• war or humanitarian disasters

• and more

 

People with intellectual disabilities are one of the most excluded groups of people in society and are often the most affected by poverty and other crisis. 

 

Including people with intellectual disabilities will give you a new perspective on the topic. 

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Making sure your campaign is accessible and inclusive will also help it reach more people and raise awareness on the topic in different places.  

Include people with intellectual disabilities in planning. 

 

Create a focus group and invite self-advocates to take part when deciding your plan for a campaign.

 

For example, when you are developing ideas for campaign activities , people with intellectual disabilities can make sure you understand the barriers that they face and how to make the activities accessible and inclusive. 

Make sure your information is accessible. 

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Keeping your campaign information such as your key messages, short, clear and in easy language will help you to reach more people. 

Use the stories of people with intellectual disabilities in your communications.

 

For example;

• in blog posts

• campaign videos

• through social media takeovers

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This will help you to reach more people with intellectual disabilities but will also show that your campaign is inclusive. 

Make sure any meetings or events are inclusive and accessible. 

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People with intellectual disabilities can help you plan inclusive events. 

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You can read more about inclusive meetings here. 

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If you are planning large events like protests or marches you can encourage people with intellectual disabilities to take part by creating accessible information about the event. For example, creating a tip sheet on how to make banners, or plain language guides on how to get to the location.

Give people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to speak to decision makers through your campaign. For example, when lobbying politicians.

 

It is likely decision makers have not met a person with an intellectual disability before so their story and leadership will be impactful. 

Work with self-advocacy groups. 

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Self-advocates are people who understand about rights and who are often engaged in community action.

 

Working with self-advocacy organisations means you can reach new networks and people you may not have worked with before. 

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You can read more about self-advocacy here.

At the end of your campaign make sure there is a way to give feedback.

 

For example through an accessible feedback survey or a feedback session.