DS was a great self-advocate from pre-school on. Clearly personality is a huge part of that. But I do think that the environments he was in really encouraged him to feel safe and feel that he would be heard. That made a big difference.
Heck, there are many environements that I still refuse to self-advocate in because there really is not point.
Anyway, I think a large part of self-advocacy comes, not from "pushing" the child, but creating a space that accepts the child as a valuable participant and welcomes the child's ideas and views.
