What is Self-Advocacy and Why is Parental Involvement Important?
As educators, we ask students to speak up for themselves. This is especially important in secondary grades; however, we do begin to teach this in elementary. Little do the students know that we are teaching them to self-advocate for themselves. So, what is self-advocacy? Self-advocacy is when students are able to tell adults or others their needs (Lee, n.d.). When students self-advocate for themselves, they have a better life satisfaction (Kleinert et al., 2010; Lachapelle et al., 2005; Wehmeyer et al., 2010; Wehmeyer & Shogren, 2016; as cited in Stansberry Brusnahan et al., 2023). Self-advocacy is important because as students become adults, they will need to tell people what they need, what is wrong, etc. While teachers can teach self-advocacy in school, it is also very important to have parental involvement while teaching this skill. Research shows that when parents are involved in their child's education then the student has better academic success (Sheldon, 2009; as cited...