Whose Voices Are Heard? A Twenty-Year Scoping Review of Caregiver Advocacy in Special Education

• In Event: Voices of Advocacy: Family and Caregiver Perspectives on Disability in Education

Abstract

This paper presents a twenty-year review investigating parent advocacy in special education. While advocacy is the expected pathway for families to ensure their rights and services, a white, middle-class framing dominates research and practice. Employing frameworks of Intersectionality, Black Feminism, and Disability Critical Theory (DisCrit), we unveiled the nuances and complexities of advocacy for multiply marginalized families. Using Critical Integrative Synthesis for our analysis, six descriptive themes revealed profound structural and systemic challenges, dismissing the advocacy among Families of Color. Counternarratives, however, reframed advocacy as a means of empowerment and resistance. We conclude this review with a call to action for practitioners, researchers, legal advocates, and policymakers to reimagine advocacy, recognizing and resourcing disabled Students of Color and their families.

Authors

• Lydia L Ocasio-Stoutenburg, Pennsylvania State University

• Azaria I. Cunningham, Boston University

• Yuchen Yang, Pennsylvania State University