Yoav Kraiem – Co-Director of the Community Development and Social Change Unit, Beit Issie Shapiro
In a couch session on Participation and Leadership, Yoav Kraiem spoke about self-representation, participation, and leadership and his contribution to a barrier-free world.

Yoav Kraiem – Co-Director of the Community Development and Social Change Unit, Beit Issie Shapiro
Shosh Kaminsky – M.S.W., Knowledge Resource Development manager, Beit Issie Shapiro
Sarah Sadovnik – COO of Elwyn Israel
Gali Schwartz – Coordinator of the self-representation project, Beit Issie Shapiro
Self-advocacy is action based strategy which is driven by people who share a common denominator and who drive the vision and strategy by working together to bring about real changes and improve their quality of life.
This article describes the process of Leadership Development among people with developmental disabilities that was carried out by Beit Issie Shapiro and Elwyn Israel.  Furthermore, this process resulted in the participation of this group in the Parliamentary discussions on the legislative process of self-advocacy.   

Dr. Dana Roth – Head of the Research and Evaluation Dept., Beit Issie Shapiro
Dr. Ela Koren – Bar Ilan University
The study demonstrates the importance of self-esteem and personal autonomy skill building to increase PWB. Implications for different support systems (i.e. caregivers, families, and service providers) and mostly people with DD will be addressed.

Yoav Kraim – Chairman, National Council for the Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill in the Community, Ministry of Health, Israel Co-Director, Unit for Social Change, Beit Issie Shapiro Lecturer, the Department of Occupational Therapy, Ono Academic College, Israel
The lecture describes the process of self-advocacy groups of people with intellectual disabilities, the way they went through and their participation in the Knesset committee, in which they expressed their will to decision-makers in Israel.

The lecturer describes how his life changed when he joined the movement for self advocacy: he embarked on a journey towards independence, self advocacy and integration in his community’s life in South Africa Efraim is an inspiration to other people with cognitive disabilities.

Chairman: Prof Patrick Corrigan
Prof Jeremy Turk: Labelling and Classifications in Developmental Disabilities: Curse or Blessing
Prof Lisa Woolfson: The influence of societal stereotypes on attitudes and behaviour of parents and teachers towards children with intellectual disabilities
Dr Katrina Scior: Do they do what they say? Questioning the link between self-reported attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities and actual behaviour
Dr Shirli Werner: “Equal in Uniform”: Its impact on attitudes of soldiers without disabilities towards soldiers with intellectual disabilities

The lecture focuses on the importance of self-advocacy for people with autism, as it presents itself in the advanced reforms made in Hungary, such as the “Eight Points” project, and the establishment of the first NGO in Hungary, which is directed and governed by people with autism.

Dr. Roth describes a research study based on an inclusive methodology that sought to explore concepts of independence and dependence among adults with complex learning difficulties and examine whether they are connected to 3 areas: relationships, initiative and views on self value and quality of life. 

Johnson, K., Mino, G., and Hopkins, R.
This article reviews the involvement of self-advocacy groups with intellectual developmental disabilities in Ireland in research on important topics relating to their lives, and what the research meant to them.