Growing Leaders in Self-Advocacy

When it comes to creating a  self-advocacy curriculum, teamwork really does make the dream work. It takes a deep and patient understanding of the history and culture of the many walks of life. Jairo Arana joins the AUCD Network Narratives podcast today to share his advice on how we can improve self-advocacy curriculums within our programs.

Jairo’s journey in self-advocacy began after being diagnosed late in life with autism and taking a three-day intensive pipeline leadership training program. This sparked his self-advocacy journey which eventually led him to become the full-time clinical program coordinator at the Mailman Center for Child Development. 

In this episode, Jairo shares his personal story of self-advocacy, leadership, and impact. He opens up about his creative passion for telling stories and the arts. He talks about the importance of seeing diversity and inclusion in his favorite shows and how this has impacted the stories he wants to tell. Jairo takes you behind the scenes of his leadership program and how finding his mentor impacted his work and self-advocacy journey. 

Listen to Jairo’s story as he shares important stories about self-advocacy, his journey through his late diagnosis, what he would tell his younger self today, and why learning the history, understanding the culture, and teamwork is the way to a more empathetic and inclusive future.

View all episodes and transcripts at http://www.aucd.org/podcast


This episode was funded partially by the Administration for Community Living through technical assistance contract # HHSP233201600066C. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Administration on Community Living, US Department of Health and Human Services, or the US Government.

This podcast episode is provided in partial fulfillment of tasks outlined in a cooperative agreement (#UA5MC11068) between AUCD and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of MCHB, the Health Resources Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or the U.S. Government.

Produced by Adode Media; a full-service podcast production agency.