Legal advocacy is a type of advocacy that can be very beneficial in the work which human service professionals do with children and their families. There are ways in which this type of advocacy can be useful to assist the children and families who are in need of their rights being at risk. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act is a crucial right for all children within the schools who have any type of disability. The case study which will be covered in detail will show how important legal advocacy is with protecting this right. Mike and Sally have one child named Jonathon who is eight years old. Jonathon attends the local elementary school and is currently in the third grade. Jonathon was diagnosed with Autism …show more content…
The degree of ASD can vary depending on the child. Currently in the United States one in every sixty eight children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (CDC, 2017). Through the Individual’s with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, all students are now guaranteed an education that is not only accessible, but also free, appropriate, timely, nondiscriminatory, meaningful, measureable, and provided in the least-restrictive setting (Boroson, 2017). The focus of the schools today have approximately ninety percent of students with disabilities mainstreamed in public schools and more than half spend at least eighty percent of their day in the general classroom (Boroson, …show more content…
The courts rule on cases creating rights and entitlements for the clients along with establishing social policies. Utilizing legal advocacy is not the first step a human service professional would take when performing advocacy. Filing a lawsuit, a major and specific tactic under the category of legal advocacy, is commonly viewed as a last resort after other, and possible less confrontational, tactics have been exhausted (Ezell, 2013). As a human service professional we want our clients to have self determination and we can help them through all of the processes of advocacy in order to achieve this. Recognizing when to use legal advocacy is a key to helping the client to have self determination. Using legal advocacy when appropriate can empower the client to stand up for their legal rights when being violated. The example of using legal advocacy when their right to equal education opportunities is being jeopardized is one that would be justified to use in this case study for