Abstract
Self-advocacy is a central component of educational inclusion for students with learning disabilities because it enables students to recognize their learning needs, communicate those needs, request accommodations and participate more actively in decisions affecting their education. However, students often develop self-advocacy within emotionally demanding and institutionally inconsistent contexts. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of students with learning disabilities and identify the internal, relational and institutional factors that shape their self-advocacy in secondary and post-secondary educational settings. A qualitative descriptive-interpretive design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 students aged 14–22 years in Richmond Hill, Canada, all of whom had a formal learning disability diagnosis. Participants were recruited from secondary and post-secondary educational settings and support networks. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed in NVivo-15 using open, axial and selective coding. Trustworthiness was enhanced through member checking, peer debriefing, analytic memoing, audit-trail documentation and consensus coding. Five interrelated themes were identified: internal psychological factors, social and relational influences, structural and institutional conditions, personal growth and coping strategies and empowerment through self-advocacy. Participants described self-advocacy as a developmental process shaped by fear of judgement, disability identity, communication confidence, teacher responsiveness, peer and family support, accommodation procedures, access to legal-rights knowledge, technology use and prior successful advocacy experiences. The findings indicate that self-advocacy among students with learning disabilities is not merely an individual skill but a situated process produced through the interaction of emotional readiness, relational validation and institutional accessibility. Schools and post-secondary institutions should therefore provide explicit self-advocacy instruction, consistent accommodation systems, teacher training and supportive opportunities for students to participate in their own educational planning.