We are pleased to announce the Independent Living (IL) feature study series. Periodically an IL study will be forwarded to you in an easy to read review.  Information on this and other studies can also be found in the Research Information for Independent Living (RIIL) database at .

If you need information to support your advocacy, reach your independent living goals, justify budgets, improve services, and generally enhance IL, try the database or discussion groups.

The first feature study was conducted to determine the need for particular types of IL advocacy. This information was used to develop a portfolio of advocacy letters. Both the study and the portfolio are available.

The Action Letter Portfolio (ALP)

White, G. W., Thomson, R., & Nary, D. E. 

Advocacy, one of the core services provided by Centers for Independent Living  (and the most important one according to Ed Roberts!), requires skills that most IL consumers need to learn.  A survey conducted by the Research and Training Center on Independent Living (RTC/IL) indicated that less than one-third of IL consumers had effective advocacy skills, according to the CILS responding to the survey. Researchers also asked about the advocacy methods used most frequently.  Twenty-six percent of the CILs responding reported that writing advocacy letters was the most frequent method used.

Based on this information, researchers compiled and tested the Action Letter Portfolio (ALP), an advocacy letter writing training manual that includes examples of disability-related issues and can be used to teach effective advocacy skills.  The manual can also be used as a self-administered training tool, to assist consumers in developing the skills they need to make their communities more disability-friendly and accessible.

White, G. W., Thomson, R., & Nary, D. E.  (1997).  An empirical analysis of the effects of a self-administered advocacy letter training program. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 41(2), 74-87.

Use  for more information about this study and other IL research studies and information.

For the particular study or products contact:  the Research and Training Center on Independent Living, 4089 Dole, Lawrence, KS, (785) 864-4095, [email protected] or http://www.rtcil.org

This research was supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the U. S. Department of Education. #796

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