Exploring the role of comics in addressing challenges of Japanese immigrant parents of children with disabilities in special education advocacy

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study was to examine the experiences of eight Japanese immigrant parents of children with disabilities learning about special education law and parent advocacy in two different formats and styles of presentation. Two tools (manga and text) were developed based on data from a previous pilot study on Japanese parent advocacy (Omori, 2016), as well as information about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and procedural safeguards. Grounded in Dewey’s (1934) perspective on art as experience and Clark’s (2018) framework of understanding culture and cultural capital in the context of IDEA in the United States, this study highlights the affordances of using multimodal mediums such as manga to convey and deliver information in culturally responsive ways to Japanese immigrant families of children with disabilities. Findings revealed that parents made meaningful emotional and intellectual connections to both tools when learning about special education advocacy. However, most parents stated their stronger preference for the aesthetic-based format over the text format, as they emphasized the importance of presenting information in culturally sensitive ways