Strategic Self-Advocacy (SSA) Ontology

A semantic framework for understanding structural, narrative, and institutional harm patterns across advocacy contexts

Version: 1.0 | Created: 2017 | Modified: 2025-03-01

Publisher: EduPsyched | Author: Sarah Ailish McLoughlin

About the SSA Ontology

Purpose

A semantic ontology and SKOS vocabulary for structural, narrative, and institutional harm patterns across advocacy contexts.

Keywords

Advocacy, ontology, SKOS, lived experience, institutional behavior, narrative laundering, gatekeeping

License

Custom SSA Ontology License — Non-extractive, attribution-required.

Organizational Affiliations

EduPsyched
Canonical publisher
Strategic Advocacy Australia
Regional partner
AdvocacyAI
Technology partner
EduLinked
Education partner

Searchable Concept Index

Concept Schemes

Glossary of Weaponised Positivity

Terms describing how positivity is weaponized to silence lived experience and dissent

Positivity Policing

Also known as: Vibes Enforcement

Enforcing 'positive vibes only' to silence lived experience, discomfort, or dissent.

Masked Minimising

Also known as: Cheerful Dismissal

Dismissing or downplaying distress with upbeat clichés that avoid the truth being expressed.

Glossary of Weaponised Access

How access to support and resources is controlled and conditional

Access as Compliance

Also known as: Compliance-Based Access

Support is only granted if a person adheres to harmful or rigid system rules.

Digital Dependency Trap

Also known as: Platform Dependency Trap

Replacing human support with failing digital systems that lack accountability.

Glossary of Systemic Bypass

How systems are designed to circumvent accountability and overwhelm complainants

Process as Obstruction

Also known as: Red Tape Obstruction

Using confusing, repetitive, or untraceable processes to overwhelm or discredit complainants.

Constructive Exclusion

Also known as: Polite Exclusion

Barriers built through bureaucratic niceties—processes designed to exist without ever functioning.

Glossary of System-Led Distortion

How institutional processes force misrepresentation and distortion

Formfield Distortion

Also known as: Form-Based Distortion

Form or portal design forces misrepresentation to qualify for support.

Glossary of Structural Disappearance

Systems that exist in theory but are built to fail in practice

Designed Disappearance

Also known as: Engineered Disappearance

Systems that exist in theory but are built to quietly fail those they claim to serve.

Glossary of Neurodivergent Pattern Theft

Appropriation of neurodivergent-created tools and expressions

Protocol Hijack

Also known as: Tool Appropriation

Professionals adopt neurodivergent-created tools and reframe them as clinical IP.

Empathy Erasure

Also known as: Compassion Misrecognition

ND expressions of care are dismissed because they differ from neurotypical scripts.

Glossary of Narrative Laundering

How lived experiences are co-opted and sanitized for institutional benefit

Borrowed Voice

Also known as: Voice Appropriation

Speaking on behalf of marginalised communities without sharing power, platform, or compensation.

Sanitised Survival

Also known as: Inspirational Rewriting

Transforming painful lived experience into inspirational content that erases systemic context.

Glossary of Institutional Mimicry

How institutions simulate inclusion while maintaining control

Empowerment Theatre

Also known as: Simulated Empowerment

Simulating lived-experience inclusion while retaining full institutional control.

Audit Inclusion

Also known as: Compliance Inclusion

Meeting technical accessibility while ignoring cultural, emotional, and practical access.

Glossary of Gatekeeping Devices

Mechanisms that control access and dismiss legitimate expertise

Opportunity Lockout

Also known as: Silent Rejection Loop

Pathways exist in theory but responses never arrive—effort is erased and access is denied.

Legitimacy Deficit

Also known as: Credential Dismissal

Lived expertise is disregarded without institutional labels or accolades.

Glossary of Grant Provision and Obfuscation

How funding and resource allocation are made symbolic rather than substantive

Platform Obfuscation

Also known as: Infrastructure Obfuscation

Standardised publishing platforms make systems appear transparent while hiding critical structural decisions.

Performativity in Funding

Also known as: Symbolic Funding Inclusion

Grant rounds look equitable but are inaccessible in practice—symbolic inclusion without delivery.

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