What Do Parents’ Narratives Reveal About Their Experience with Their Child’s IEP?

About the Book

In this book a qualitative phenomenological narrative inquiry was conducted. This study is intended to describe and comprehend ten parents’ experience during their child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) who are identified under the federal disability category “multiple disability” or also “intellectual disability,” grades one through eight. This narrative inquiry not only permitted me to capture the experiences of parents during their child’s IEP, but it also illuminated the heartfelt power of their reflective accounts. This study also demonstrated how a researcher’s transparent interestedness and multiple identities as a mother of a child who is identified under the federal disability category “multiple disabilities” with an IEP and an authority on education conveys more trustworthiness than the illusion of disinterestedness that has traditionally been practiced in qualitative inquiry. Relationships of trust and longevity are created through these outlets of personal experiences making it easier for unearthing an oppressive voice (Butler-Kisber, 2010). Listening to not only what is being said but also to what is being done throughout the IEP via a parent’s perspective can be described only through their lenses. Parents’ narratives of their child’s IEP produce a gateway to their experience. Excluding such possibilities may be the elucidation that increases knowledge to eradicate maladaptive practices and affirm or also develop the positive behaviors needed to afford parents a productive and positive experience in the IEP (Garriott, Wandry, & Snyder, 2000).

About the Author

Dr. Bryant was born in Dayton, Ohio as Carletta Lynn Davidson. She matriculated Dayton Public Schools as an honor student and would later become an educator. She has over 20 years of experience in public and higher education. Dr. Bryant continued her burgeoning scholarship and acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information System from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and a PhD in Educational Leadership from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Bryant works for the Federal Government as an Educational Specialist. She is the CEO for her business Parenting from a Higher Dimension, LLC (PHD); Business partner with her siblings A New Direction Therapeutic and Educational Services, LLC, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and she sits on the Parent Advisory Council for Dayton Children’s Medical Center. Dr. Bryant is married to Mark Bryant and they are the PROUD parents of Trey Dante and Mason Charles Bryant who lives with special needs and the inspiration for her dissertation—book.