The concept of advocacy in definition is as a process where a counselor works with or on behalf of clients with the intention of obtaining services and resources that would modify the procedures or practices that affect the individual negatively. In this case, the belief is that if the counselor does not intervene these services would be denied resulting in continued suffering. Student empowerment and self-advocacy is an important role that the counselor in a school setting as it prepares the learners to meet their personal and educational goals.
One of the integral areas where advocacy is needed is the elementary school setting where analysis of student capability brought about identification of numerous learning disabilities among the learners. The counselor should be able to intervene to empower the student and enable the practice of self-advocacy.
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When a school counselor interacts with students, one of the important take-away is to identify the skills of the individual in keeping up with the learning methods applied in the classroom setting. Usually, learning disabilities are ignored and teachers may assume that they are merely the student’s fault for not paying attention (Roberts, Ju, & Zhang, 2016). The counselor should intervene and ensure the student receives the appropriate individualized education program (IEP).
Once the program has been identified with the learning disability clearly indicated, the role of the counselor is to help the student recognize and understand their disability. For a child with dyslexia, he or she should be able to understand that they may have difficulty in reading fluency or comprehension of words (Hart, & Brehm, 2013). However, the student may require a copy of lecture notes to learn the curriculum taught in the classroom. The advocacy role in this stage is to ensure the resources of learning are provided.
Learning disabilities may sometime bring about a lot of stigmatization as the ordinary students or other members of the community begin to look down on the client. The counselor plays an important role in demonstrating to the child that he or she has the power to improve their situation by seeking assistance from the relevant educators (Hart, & Brehm, 2013). The student will learn to ask for help and enable other individuals in the community to understand their needs to achieve personal and educational goals.
References
Hart, J. E., & Brehm, J. (2013). Promoting self-determination: A model for training elementary students to self-advocate for IEP accommodations. Teaching Exceptional Children , 45(5), 40-48.
Roberts, E. L., Ju, S., & Zhang, D. (2016). Review of practices that promote self-advocacy for students with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies , 26(4), 209-220.
