Why I Paused Before Calling Myself a “Special Education Advocate”
I almost added a label to my name right before going live.
You know the kind, something tidy and professional that tells people who you are in a glance.
But when I typed special education advocate, I stopped.
Because I wasn’t sure it was true in the way that mattered most.
What does that label actually say?
If someone scrolls past a video and sees that title, what are they assuming I’m advocating for?
A program?
A system?
A category?
That question lingered longer than I wanted.
The moment that changed my thinking
It wasn’t dramatic. No lightning bolt.
Just me, staring at my own name, realizing that labels can quietly lock us into frameworks we never agreed to.
Frameworks that shape:
how kids are grouped
how support is delivered
and who’s expected to adapt to whom
Once I noticed that, I couldn’t just shake it off.
Why this matters for parents
Most parents I work with didn’t set out to challenge systems.
They just wanted their
child:
to be known,
to be included,
to be educated alongside peers without having to earn their place.
But somewhere along the way, advocacy starts sounding like defending structures instead of questioning them.
That tension is what I talk through in the video.
What I decided (for now)
I didn’t add a new label.
I took one off.
And the reason why, and what that means for inclusion, belonging, and how schools organize kids, is something I unpack more fully when I say it out
loud.
