Mary Anne Prater, faculty member and former chair of the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education, has served at the McKay School of Education for 11 years. In addition to fulfilling her responsibilities as professor and chair, Prater has researched, written, and published an impressive amount of literature in the field of special education.

Prater began her college education at the University of Utah, earning her bachelor of music and master of science in special education. She then went on to earn her doctorate at Utah State University. Prior to coming to BYU, Prater was a department chair and associate dean at the University of Hawaii, an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, and an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska.

Prater’s published research is extensive, including six books and over 60 scholarly articles. Much of her work focuses on the portrayal of characters with disabilities in adolescent literature. Prater hopes that illuminating the common paradigms in literature regarding characters with disabilities will help people better understand and reshape the way they view and treat people with disabilities. Prater’s works are highly respected; several of her books were published by The Pearson Learning Company. One of her textbooks was translated into Korean.

Prater is currently involved in distributing her research findings through additional media. Collaborating with other special education professionals, Prater is developing several online teaching modules that will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of special education teachers. Schools and universities will be able to purchase these modules individually, allowing them flexibility in designing their curriculum through cost-efficient means.

After several years of service as department chair, Prater is excited to be transitioning back into a role involved primarily with teaching and research. While she enjoys researching and writing about special education, Prater is passionate about sharing her love of special education with her students. “Writing is rewarding because it’s easy to see the concrete fruits of your labors,” Prater said. “You don’t always see the fruits of your labors when teaching students, but I love the process and interacting with my students.”

Despite the amount of time spent researching and teaching, Prater finds time to travel and has been to all 50 states. She also enjoys cross-stitching and being a doting aunt to her 11 nieces and nephews and great aunt to her 21 great-nieces and nephews.

June 18, 2012