ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the problems, both philosophical and practical, which surround advocacy and self-advocacy. In aligning ourselves with those who would promote self-advocacy, one needs to be aware that advocacy is not a simple process and cannot be encouraged simplistically. The only way to avoid the taint of self-interest is for the advocate to work seriously to deprive him or herself of a job. Inasmuch as teachers have always seen themselves as advocates for their pupils, teachers in the special needs field have tended to adopt this role more than most. For most of the time that education has been compulsory, teaching has been characterised by despotism, of a more or less benign kind. The chapter argues that student teachers and newly qualified teachers have quite enough to worry about without saddling them with issues of advocacy and self-advocacy. It identifies just a few of the dilemmas which face people when attempting to promote self-advocacy.
