Overview
Advice and advocacy are different types of support.
Advice gives you information so you can understand your options and make decisions.
Advocacy helps you share your views, wishes and feelings. An advocate can help make sure people listen to you.
Some services offer both advice and advocacy. Knowing what support you need can help you get the best outcome for your child or young person.
Finding trusted advice and support
SENDIAS
SENDIAS is Somerset’s official SEND Information, Advice and Support Service. The service provides free, confidential and impartial advice to help families understand their rights, options and the support available. SENDIAS helps families take part in decisions about education, health and care. They also offer a helpline.
Somerset Parent Carer Forum (SPCF)
As Somerset’s recognised parent carer forum, SPCF help families understand local services and share feedback to improve support for children and young people with SEND. They provide:
- parent support groups
- workshops
- a resource library
- a phone line
- SEND Navigators who help families build local support networks
The service is run by parent carers who have their own experience of supporting a child with additional needs or disabilities.
Two resources have been developed by parent carers for parent carers:
- Information pack for parents of children with additional needs and disabilities
- Supporting your neurodiverse child
Contact
Contact for families with disabled children is a national charity for families with disabled children. They provide:
- advice and information
- support for parents and carers
- a free helpline
- guides and resources
Their services are for families with disabled children and young people aged 0 to 25. The Helpful Guide is Contact’s all-in-one book full of the information and help you need to enjoy family life:
What an advocate does
Sometimes it helps to have someone else who can speak on your behalf and represent your interests, especially in formal situations or when you do not feel very confident. A person who speaks on your behalf in this way is often called an ‘advocate’.
Advocates can help you get your views or wish across about the issues which are important to you, such as the care or medical treatment you receive, or the management of your finances.
The role of an advocate depends on your situation and the support you want. But they are there to support your choices.
An advocate can:
- listen to your views and concerns
- help you explore your options and rights (without pressuring you)
- provide information to help you make informed decisions
- help you contact relevant people, or contact them on your behalf
- accompany you and support you in meetings or appointments
An advocate will not:
- give you their personal opinion
- solve problems and make decisions for you
- make judgements about you
The support of an advocate is often particularly useful in meetings when you might not feel confident in expressing yourself.
They can:
- support you to ask all the questions you want to ask
- make sure all the points you want covered are included in the meeting
- explain your options to you without giving their opinion
- help keep you safe during the meeting – for example, if you find the meeting upsetting, your advocate can ask for a break until you feel able to continue.
Self-advocacy
You may feel confident speaking up about the support and services you want and need. This is called self-advocacy.
The Autism Education Trust has created a self-advocacy toolkit for young people. It includes practical tools and simple guidance to help you understand your rights, share your views, and make your voice heard. The toolkit can help you build the skills and confidence to speak up for yourself.
Who can be an advocate
An advocate does not always need to be a paid professional.
You might choose:
- a friend
- a family member
- another trusted person
They can come with you to meetings and help you share your views.
If you have a legal right to advocacy, this person may be called an appropriate individual.
The council should not choose someone who:
- you do not want involved
- provides your care or treatment as part of their job
- cannot support you properly
- has abused or neglected you, or failed to protect you from harm
Some organisations can provide a professional advocate. Professional advocates understand your rights and help make sure your views are heard.