ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the interplay between political and legal developments, and the social and educational implications. C. Gipps and P. Murphy distinguish between equality and equity, and their discussion relates closely to the way self-advocacy has developed. The commercialisation of education is promoted as consistent with equal opportunity, but it cannot be consonant with equity, unless the consumers of education, the disabled, can persuade the provider to alter the product to suit them. The availability of higher education to all regardless of income is also becoming increasingly problematic, with the reduction of student grants to a level which even parents of very modest means are required to supplement, and the introduction of student loans. Within educational law, however, it appears that the child is still seen as the creature of his or her parents, and there is only limited opportunity for self-advocacy.
