Parents of individuals with autism face many challenges in accessing appropriate services and supports for their offspring. Parents also play vital roles in advocating for their offspring's rights and needs. Furthermore, despite advocacy programs becoming increasingly common, it remains unclear how to best foster advocacy among parents of…

Parental stress increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families with children with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) and extensive support needs--such as complex communication needs--experienced additional challenges, including service loss and difficulties accessing virtual learning. The purpose of this study was to understand…

This program evaluation explored whether the transitional vocational rehabilitation program at a non-profit organization in Tennessee, named Thistle Farms, was effective in improving trauma-related mental health symptoms and in increasing the sense of empowerment among female survivors of intimate partner violence. The study additionally evaluated…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally…

Although many parents report needing advocates to receive special education services for their children with disabilities, the advocacy process is largely unexplored especially in relation to school and child outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the special education advocacy process by conducting interviews with nine parent-advocate…

This article examines how three Nashville educational support professionals' conceptions of empowerment map onto their civic expectations for their Latino/a students and themselves. It argues that these expectations are inversely related, with students standing as surrogates for professionals' civic selves or professionals acting as civic…

Many parents struggle to advocate for their children with disabilities to obtain services at school. Subsequently, parents may turn to special education advocates to help ensure that their children receive appropriate services. However, it is unclear how special education advocates support families and secure services for children with…

States can use their resources, including technical expertise and financial support, to provide vital data to help parents make informed decisions about their children's education. Accessible, tailored, and easy-to-understand data can help parents answer questions about their children's education such as, "Is my child on track to graduate…

The 2013 merger of Memphis City Schools (with 103,000 students) and Shelby County Schools (with 47,000 students) was the largest school district consolidation in American history. In its first year of operation, the new Shelby County Schools (SCS) commissioned CRPE researchers to perform a critical review of the district's readiness to implement a…

As part of a multi-state study on health message development, a group of family researchers, Extension faculty, and a learning technologist used audience-response systems, or "clickers," to display and record focus group participants' responses to questions. This article describes how the authors used clicker technology in focus group…

Sense of Community theory suggests that people feel more attracted to groups and settings in which they feel influential or powerful. Unfortunately, young people have no voice or influence in many of the contexts in which they find themselves. Furthermore, teenagers are often unequipped and undersupported to participate fully and feel like they…

This paper describes the challenges and benefits of an action-research project with a Nashville-based nonprofit human service organization. In our view, outmoded human service organizations are in serious need of innovation to promote psychological and physical wellness, prevention of social problems, empowerment, and social justice. This project…

Action research includes a variety of methods engaged in by practitioners who wish to learn more about their work and the possibility of constructively changing it. This paper describes an action research dissertation project that focused on the work of a group of community activists to construct new understandings of their work and, as a result,…