The purpose of this single community qualitative case study was to determine how the voice of the student was present in the IEP process, documentation paperwork, and curricular and diagnostic decisions, among a group of seven students, grades 9 through 12, placed in a self-contained program for students with emotional disabilities in a suburban Midwest unit school district. The significance of this study existed in the opportunity to deeply explore and obtain the student perspectives and to find ways to prepare and include students in the IEP process in a collaborative and empowered way. A focus was placed on capturing and privileging the students' voice in narrative format as this provided maximum access to this voice. The data sources included online student response questionnaires, historical document review, and a student created collage. The collage was to represent the student perception of their voice in their IEP and the IEP process. Self-determination theory was the theoretical framework used to analyze the data in this study. During analysis, it was necessary to expand the literature review and further explore the research to include such topics as mental illness, stigmatization, and medical management of mental illness. These topics emerged as pivotal in the study and in the implications. The findings of this study suggested that five key categories were present in the data: the IEP document, the IEP process, significant others, self, and outcomes. Filtered through the lens of self-determination theory, the sub-themes of autonomy, competence, and relatedness emerged in the data. Issues surrounding stigmatization of people with mental illness emerged as central to this study and recommendations for further study were discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]