Documentation burden refers to the amount of time, effort, and organisation required from families to gather, produce, and maintain records in order to secure appropriate support for a child. This can include collecting assessments, writing emails, keeping timelines of incidents, attending meetings, completing forms, and repeatedly explaining a child’s needs to different staff members. Families of disabled students often carry a much heavier documentation burden than other families. To ensure that accommodations are implemented or concerns are taken seriously, parents may feel they must keep detailed records of communications, missed supports, behavioural incidents, and school responses. Documentation can become essential for protecting a child’s rights or preparing for appeals and complaints. In many cases, this burden grows not because families choose it, but because systems fail to reliably meet a child’s needs. When supports are inconsistent, decisions are unclear, or incidents are not properly recorded by the school, families may take on the role of documenting what is happening. The result is that access to support can become tied to a family’s ability to sustain extensive record-keeping over time. Recognising the documentation burden highlights the need for systems that reduce unnecessary administrative demands on families.