摘要：TThe characteristics of families of children with special needs and their roles in the development process of their children are very important for the development and education process of their children. One of these roles, the advocacy role, is seen as a key for children with special needs to access the services they need. For this reason, the functions and roles of families of children with special needs, and especially advocacy role are emphasized in this article. In addition, advocacy role of families of children with special needs was discussed in the history context in the United States and Turkey. Support programs and services providing to families have been also discussed. Today, children with special needs still have problems in accessing special education services at the desired level at national and international context. Considering that these children may face negative situations such as meeting their educational needs and social acceptance; the advocacy role should still be used effectively by families to cope with adverse situations, to provide a good living condition, to eliminate social and political barriers and to ensure full equality of opportunity.
关键词：child with special need;special education;roles of families;disability;advocacy
