Self-Advocacy Tools: The Vision Board

The Vision Board is The 4th Self-Advocacy Tool: Art as a Deductive Device. In a vision board, you collage, write about, draw and imagine your way to what you want. This can be a goal; this can be a situation desired; or it can be the manifestation of a long-tucked-away dream. It's not a new idea under the sun, of course, but I like to think that using art to figure out what you want is a kind of moving meditation. Having your hands act out what you desire is powerful. As they tear out the magazine picture, as they use childish means to elaborate what is dreamed, the colored pencils and crayons and paste give us permission to figure out what the deep wants of our smallest self are. It gives you agency in your life. The handout I give out at my live talks includes tips and advice in creating your own Vision Board, and I'm reproducing them here: • Stacks of old magazines. These are good for so many uses—cutting photos out off for faces or bodies of your characters, for texture in a collage, or tear out quotes that speak to you.

• Through my research into brain injury I’ve found that, like writing or drawing with your non-dominant hand, going across your artistic persuasion can provide you with a new perspective that can be valuable. This is also true if you consider yourself a non-artist. Mess around and see what comes out.

• Have playful tools at your disposal. Hit up sales for other fun pieces of art equipment; glitter pens! crayons, pastels, etc. Try watercolors. Try crayons. Use fancy charcoal pencils, had for low cost but something that can make you feel important and official. Glitter pens are my favorite!!

• Newspapers. Use a headline or a story to spark a piece of writing or art. Doing so can help you find a bigger theme in your work and generate insight.

• Use photos. This is a collection of images and writing that are meaningful to you in a different way, so use photos that inspire you. It could be something that sparks a memory, or the photo of the couch in the apartment you want to have someday.

• Get stickers! A well-placed gold star can make you feel like a million dollars. It’s fun to celebrate your creations.

Self-Advocacy Poster released!

I was pleased to get the Self-advocacy Talk poster from the publicist at the Fern Ridge Library recently. Here it is: