Problems about the perception of 'advocacy' for parents in special education contexts

I went to an IEP meeting with a parent the other day and was greeted with hesitance by the occupational therapist on the educational team."Why are you here?" asked the therapist.  "Are you here because you are actually treating the child or are you here as an advocate?"Neither characterization seemed correct.  I paused and thought for a few seconds as I was not sure why it mattered.  I also was not sure if I was free to divulge the information.  I ran for the safest middle ground I could find and responded, "I know the child and I am helping the family."  Both were true.I know that the word "advocate" is often perceived negatively by school based practitioners.  I have been attending IEP meetings as an 'outside' therapist for over 20 years and I tend to avoid the term 'advocate' because it engenders a lot of negativity.  I see a lot of reactivity in educational teams when an 'advocate' is involved.Bruce and Christiansen (1988) first promoted the notion of OT as advocate in context of increased sensitivity about word usage and awareness of environmental barriers.  That value was subsumed into the thinking of most OT practitioners over time, but the word "advocacy" made a re-appearance in the second edition of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (2007) with a new definition.  In the OTPF 2nd edition advocacy is defined as "The “pursuit of influencing outcomes—including public policy and resource allocation decisions withi...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Disability rights school-based practice Source Type: blogs