'self-advocate' originates from the combination of 'self,' meaning 'one's own person,' and 'advocate,' from Latin 'advocatus,' meaning 'one called to aid.'

'advocatus' transformed into the Old French word 'avocat,' and eventually became the modern English word 'advocate.'

Initially, 'advocate' meant 'one who pleads the cause of another,' but in the context of 'self-advocate,' it evolved to mean 'one who pleads their own cause.'