Bio

Dr. Jamie Pearson is an Associate Professor of Special Education and Educational Equity in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences. Dr. Pearson earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she developed FACES (Fostering Advocacy, Communication, Empowerment, and Support), an advocacy intervention for Black families raising autistic children. Dr. Pearson’s research focuses on: (a) disparities in autism identification, service access, and service utilization, (b) the impact of parent-advocacy and empowerment training on child and family outcomes, and (c) strategies to promote positive partnerships between educators and marginalized communities. Dr. Pearson has served as PI or co-PI on more than $23 million in grants and has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of inclusive/special education and racial and ethnic disparities.