Dissertation Nightmares in Tea at the Cabin in the Woods

In about 45 minutes I am chairing my first dissertation defense for our new Ed.D. program at the college. It has been a rough three years for this student and she has been busting her butt to get to this point.

She started out with an idea to collect data on young children suspected of Autism and rate how well they did in two different therapeutic programs. She thought she had 3 sites lined up for data collection. It turned out one of the sites backed out before she even got started. Then the other sites had trouble getting all the signatures and approvals to use the kids in the study. As it turned out, she ended up with only 2 participants, one from each other 2 programs that remained viable. Every time she got close to getting things the way she needed, something would block her. We decided that she should use the obstacles faced as a guideline for future research and to make the best of what she collected. Her “readers” on the committee felt the work wasn’t strong enough for a dissertation. Last month we met as a committee and hammered out the issues and my student went head on into making corrections, adjustments and additions on her work. We will see today if they feel she has accomplished what they asked. Personally, I think she did a hell of a good job considering all the crap she had to overcome. AND she had a new baby during all this as well. Amazing when you think about it.

I have two other students whose committees I am chair. One is working on her research now and the other is another year behind her, just getting started. The one collecting her data now has found herself completely overwhelmed and almost quit. I talked her down, told her to take a couple weeks off from working on this and let things settle again. She appears to be okay now. It is not uncommon to get overwhelmed when writing a dissertation. I did - on all three of them! Yes, I did 3 dissertations - someone should have just taken me out back and beat me with a switch to beat some sense into me. What was I thinking? For someone who is supposed to be smart - I have done some very stupid things.

My newest student is going to be making a documentary film and a companion book for parents who have learned or are just learning about their child/ren being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She currently works with a school where several of the students are on the spectrum and has had to help parents understand what all this means, what they can do to help their child/ren and what resources are available for them. My feeling is this will be a much smoother project than the others. Time will tell.

Many of us take for granted healthy children. We have our own ideas of what healthy looks like. But I am amazed at how many people think children with Autism are not healthy children. These kids are just as healthy as any others. They bring joy and challenges into the lives of their families just like every other child. Many of these kids go on to college, get married, have careers and families - just like other kids. I have 2 ASD kids in my classes this semester. I actually like them a lot and find their take on things to be enlightening. I have also noticed my ASD students are more conscientious than other students, getting work done on time - not always how I envisioned it, but on time and done. I have also found when I take the time to meet with them one on one, what I don’t get in their homework or papers, they communicate much better when given time to process the information and are prepared for the conversation. It reduces the anxiety for them.

Well, I suppose I should pack up and get to the conference room, meet my student and get the room all set up and ready to go. I hope she does well and is comfortable with her material and doing this. I am sure she is nervous but her presentation looks good and she knows her stuff. I let you know.