Re when to give up on advocacy - there are many different times when it's "time" to give up - all based on your individual situation. I would recommend stopping for any of these reasons: you are advocating against a brick wall that will never change (the school/district doesn't want to hear from you and isn't going to change), you are spending so much time fighting/advocating that you are missing out on just being a parent, you are totally exhausted from it, or... your child is happy.
Ditto this.
I think also you don't necessarily have to "give up" but can simply take a break if needed. You're not marrying the idea--just stepping back a bit/for awhile.
Yes.
I'll add to that list any situation in which the powers that be are actively
placing your child in any situation that is harmful or dangerous as a result of that advocacy-- and that this situation appears that way not only to you, but to outsiders who have no skin in the game.
What I mean by that is a situation in which your child is
isolated from a social life as a result of the school subtly retaliating for your effort to advocate for his/her needs. That effectively says to you (as a parent and advocate); CHOOSE which of your child's basic needs to have met. It treats your child as a second-class person, and our kids sniff that out better than most do. It communicates to your child that there is something shameful and wrong about
being the way that s/he is. Do NOT ask how I know this one-- but ignoring this one is bad, bad BAD news for the life lessons that it teaches and the personality quirks that it leaves behind.
