Seen and Heard: Advocacy Series Introduction

By: Dawn Bilpuch

Advocacy. It’s a word you hear a lot, and, it’s something you do a lot more than you realize. Whether you’re disabled or not, you advocate every day. Whether you are a person with low vision who asks for a document in larger font, or, a single parent asking for a different shift, so that you can take your kiddo to school the pick them up. Or trying to get a law changed or passed in your state, city, county or township, or even in the country, or giving testimony, you’re advocacting.

This is what I do every single day. Whether I’m asking for braille menus, or an accessible document, or trying to get rules or laws changed.

My name is Dawn Bilpuch, and, I’m a disability rights advocate, and a person with a disability. I have been blind since birth.
This is an introduction to a multi-part series that I’m going to be writing about and for advocacy and advocates.
This series will cover:

• What advocacy means, what it means to me, and what it means to you
• What advocates wish people knew and understood
• What can be done to support advocates

Why I Chose To Do This

I have several reasons that motivated me work on this. The first reason, the original firestarter, came in December 2023. A friend of mine whose a fellow advocate, was being abused, and, was denied aid in a medical crisis, and, I had to bet the aides to give her water and oxygen. I ⊦ to save her life, because if I hadn’t been there, she may not be here today.
That triggered some past trauma involving a family member’s medical emergency, and as a result, I deteriorated mentally and emotionally’like . It caused a serious if not severe mental breakdown. As a result, my work performance was effected. While I’m in a somewhat better place now, in some ways I’m still recovering.
Regardless of how I felt and how it affected me, I’m glad I was there, and would do it all over again.

Then, earlier in 2024, I was (and still am) secretary for an ad?ocacy group in Ohio, a friend of mine and fellow colleague who was chair, was pushed out, and I experienced mistreatment, and, I began to think about it again.
Fast forw4 to now, and, the person who took the chair position abruptly resigned, before a big event, and, I had to step away to take care of my mental health for 2 months. The response I got was not what I expected. Plus, a bill that I support called Lauren’s Law was introduced, and, that made the climate colder than what it already was.
It’s left me with a lot of feelings of hurt, exhaustion, shame, to name a few, and, I have also been dealing with self-blame and self-doubt. So, I feel that one of the ways I can work through this is to write this series.
This is an unflinching, uncensored account of and look at advocacy, and, what it means to be an advocate.