It’s beginning to look alot like … a thesis

With the patience of saints and the wisdom of the ages, my supervisors are guiding me on the last two months of my thesis before I submit (aiming for January 16th). In doing my rereading I came across a certain point that might be interesting to share with you. At a certain point in their narratives, parents began to consider the impact of developmental trajectories. In fact, overall in hopes and expectations for the future parents targeted the development of their children rather than any specific symptom or behaviour. In doing this, some of the gaps I see in research projects – a lack of applied understanding of developmental disability and a lack of specific outcome measures – might be addressed. Initially dogs here were adopted to target those symptoms and behaviours specific to developmental disability, however in extending these expectations parents used day to day observations and significant events in language, communication, social engagement, as well as more neurotypical behaviours including social exploration (nosiness), and social interests (e.g. asking if a sibling was okay after a fall). In addition, as these placements progressed parents also considered the role of the environment on their children’s learning.
Should make for some interesting reading in my submitted thesis and hopefully publications and conferences next year. Will let you know.