Advocate

Ad + voce/ + ate —> advocate

Above is the structure of the word “advocate”. The word may be used as a noun or a verb determined in writing by its position in a sentence or in speaking by a shift of stress and of course in context. The prefix <ad-> has the sense of “to” and the <voce> base has the orthographic denotation of “call”. This base is also present in the words vocal, vocation, and is related to “voice”. The word advocate simply means “to call” with the connotation of “to call for help”. You can advocate for yourself or you can advocate for others. 

Picture yourself alone in a meeting with eight school professionals. You know your child is struggling and needs help. You know other parents who hired lawyers to get testing and help for their kids from the same school. You can't afford a lawyer. What do you do? Call us. 

I was recently an advocate partner with a mom advocating for her child with her school. Her child is several grades behind even after the three tiered system of support used by the school. Yet the school was still not initiating an IEP meeting and mom was concerned. We helped her write a letter requesting a meeting with the school and then I attended it with her. Mom was nervous but determined. Just my presence with her in the meeting helped. She did a great job expressing what she was seeing at home and how she was struggling to help her child. I was able to chime in at a few key moments to provide the data we had collected with one quick evaluation. That made a huge difference and the school agreed to provide thorough testing and the mom felt supported and pleased. 

I’m thankful that the meeting went the way that it did. I’ve been in other meetings that haven’t been as successful or I’ve left wondering if there wasn’t more I could have done. And so I’m looking to become a better advocate.

This fall I will start the Dyslexia Advocate Certificate Program through the Dyslexia Training Institute. I will learn more about advocating, understanding the elements of a quality IEP or 504 and become familiar with special education law. I know that with this knowledge I will be a stronger resource for all our families who need help navigating school support. 

The cost of the program is $950. If you would like to make a donation to Shine Learning Services for this specific need, go to shinelearningservices.org and click “give”. When you make your donation, add “advocacy certification” in the comments and it will be earmarked for this purpose. If we receive more than $950, we will put the excess donations in our general fund which goes to pay for services for families with the greatest needs. 

Thank you for your support! Julie Bosket