Self-advocacy is not something that happens naturally. Like many deaf or hard of hearing individuals, the author learned the art of advocacy through a trial-by-fire process in which his parents and himself struggled with the teachers and administrators of his public school. Together, they fought for and achieved programming that allowed the author…

I remember asking my mother at different points in my life why I could read better--generally handle English better--than my friends. Mama would always consider the unusual depth and speed of my language and literacy development and respond with a variation of the following: "I refused to accept what the doctors were telling me. I refused to…

This article is the story of how Traci Penland, the mother of three children, two of whom are deaf, stopped thinking of "the school"--the combined presence of teachers, professionals, support staff, deaf education specialists, audiologists, and administrators--as her enemy in her pursuit to help her daughter in her educational journey. A…

Every day Carl Wayne Denney or his wife, Tuesday, becomes a teacher for Livia, their 13-year-old daughter. They have enrolled their daughter in schools and programs around the country, but they have not been able to find a program that can provide the support they need. In their search for the appropriate school, they have experienced objections…

According to the University of Notre Dame's online dictionary (n.d.), the word advocacy comes partly from the Latin word "advocare," which means "to summon or call to one's aid." This definition provides an interesting look into what advocacy means when looking at the special needs of a child. Advocacy is a summoning of…

The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center has begun a research project, Families of Color Advocacy, to learn about parents/caregivers of color's advocacy efforts and experiences to ensure their deaf or hard of hearing children's educational needs are met. The undertaking of this research project is based on key principles so that…

In educational settings, where decisions must regularly be made related to what type and focus of services to provide, having a parent/caregiver advocate in their corner can be very important to children who are deaf or hard of hearing. In this article, the author presents how to best support families and caregivers who are disconnected,…