Dr. Misty Parsley

Dr. Parsley has a bachelor and a master degrees in Speech Language Pathology and a doctorate degree in Special Education Administration. She has dedicated her career to students with disabilities, previously serving as an autism consultant and special education coordinator in public schools. She also worked for 4 years in the Vanderbilt TRIAD program providing state-wide consultation to schools and providing support to families and students with autism through social skills programs and home consultations. She has presented both locally and nationally on autism and postsecondary topics. Misty is an associate professor and the Director of Special Education Programs at Lipscomb University where she teaches in the graduate and undergraduate special education programs. Misty’s passion is including people with disabilities in all aspects of the community and ensuring that they have the same opportunities to participate as do all other individuals. She started the IDEAL program, Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb, in January 2014 for students with disabilities who would not otherwise be able to attend college. The students are able to participate in the social and academic aspects of college while learning employment and daily living skills necessary to function independently. She was the Principal Investigator of the TPSID grant through the US Department of Education from 2015-2020. Misty has served on numerous nonprofit boards including Autism TN, Disability Rights TN, Genesis School, and the Southeastern Postsecondary Education Alliance.