Educational advocacy among adoptive parents of adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the educational advocacy experiences of 36 adoptive parents of adolescents and young adults with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The participants responded to a questionnaire and 29 of them also engaged in an in-depth individual interview. Data were analysed inductively. Emerging from the data were four dimensions of advocacy: awareness, information seeking, presenting the case and monitoring. It was also found that the Internet was an essential tool for parents to seek information and support from others, and that in some cases advocacy was a means for parents to obtain respect from educators and programmes and services for their children.