Examining Similarities and Differences in Parent Advocacy During Early Intervention and School Services

Abstract

Although advocacy seems inevitable for families of individuals with disabilities across the lifespan, little is known about how advocacy may change from early intervention to school services. By understanding similarities and differences across the time periods, we can develop interventions to improve advocacy during early intervention and school services, respectively. We conducted interviews with 14 caregivers of individuals with disabilities comparing their lived experiences with advocacy during early intervention and school services. Participants reported conducting case advocacy (i.e. advocacy for one individual such as one’s child) and cause advocacy (i.e. advocacy for a group of individuals such as all children with disabilities) during early intervention and school services. They also reported the same advocacy strategies for each time period and many of the same barriers to advocacy. Only two barriers differed; in early intervention, participants reported lacking peer support and in school services, participants reported struggling with jargon. For early intervention and school services, participants reported that advocacy yielded positive outcomes for their children with disabilities. However, it often took a year to yield a positive outcome. There were mixed perceptions about whether case or cause advocacy was easier for families. Implications for research and practice are discussed.