Although special education advocates have played an essential role in obtaining rights for individuals with disabilities, there is still much unknown about their motivations, challenges, roles, and the meaning they made from their experiences. Research into Saudi parent advocates of children with disabilities and their complex daily life issues…

An educational advocate, also known as a parent advocate, child advocate, student advocate, or independent advocate, assists parents of students with disabilities in navigating the complex world of special education. This brief guide will help parents: (1) ask interview questions that will help get an understanding of an advocate's approach to…

In advancing educational inclusion efforts this critical position paper makes explicit the relevance of new materialism as a pedagogy to counter the dominant special education models in Canadian and Australian school contexts. This paper argues the implementation of special education policies and programs do not adequately address the complexity…

Parental expectations (having high expectations for their children) and parental involvement (having parents as active and knowledgeable participants in transition planning) have been identified as evidence-based predictors of improved postschool outcomes for students with disabilities. However, little is known about how education professionals…

Special education teachers have a professional obligation to advocate for students with disabilities to ensure students receive a meaningful, individualized education. However, there are potential risks teachers may face when attempting to advocate. Given that effective strategies for advocacy are not always included in special education…

Early in 1992, Ruth Heitin embarked upon her career as a private special education consultant. As a special education advocate, she serves as an independent specialist, offering a second opinion on educational issues. In general, this type of advocate works for parents, either directly or through a nonprofit group, but their real clients are…

The voices of adults and children with disabilities who have experienced violence and abuse are slowly beginning to surface in the public domain. Segregated residential institutions run by religious congregations appear to be dangerous places for children with disabilities and perceived differences--according to the former residents, speaking and…

Most efforts to understand and support self-determination have dealt solely with adolescents and adults, sometimes overlooking and excluding the foundations in early childhood that are required for successful emergence of self-determination. The purpose of this article is to share what is known about early self-determination and to suggest how…

Too often, parents of children with disabilities come with negative expectations about the intentions of the teachers and administrators who are proposing an education plan for their son or daughter. In preparation, they arm themselves with advocates, lawyers, and a myriad of outside evaluations in preparation for the "battle" ahead. In…

The construct of resilience has been defined in the research in various ways and in specific and broad terms. In this qualitative study, the resilience process was specifically explored in African American single mothers of children with disabilities as they developed their capacity to rebound from adversity, adapted to having a child with a…

An educational advocate and parent of a hearing impaired child discusses her role. She cites the need for advocacy and briefly mentions problems with due process cases in Pennsylvania. She lists techniques for individual advocacy (such as an advocacy record of parent-school negotiations and school records) as well as for systemwide advocacy…

Presented is an interview with Frank Bowe, director of the American Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. (SBH)

The workbook is intended to help people working on a community level to secure services for handicapped children. It assumes that the reader already has gathered data to determine gaps in the community's existing service system and that a list of needed services has been identified and prioritized. An introductory section examines what is meant by…

The author reviews the history, current activities, and concerns of the Closer Look Information Center, parent information centers, and the Protection and Advocacy Network, finding that these have disseminated basic rights and specific information well, but now need to address problems requiring broad legal knowledge and sophisticated analysis.…

This exploratory qualitative study examines what occurred in the lives of kindergarten through twelfth-grade students who were expelled from school in order to understand possible stressors in their lives. Data were obtained on expulsion cases from a variety of school districts in one midwestern state. The sample (N = 91) consisted of the total…