Driven by scientific curiosity, I am looking for answers to practical questions that will make a difference in their lives families and young children experiencing developmental delays and differences. I want to make positive and necessary changes.
As a Research 1 university, faculty at the UO mentor students to become critical consumers of research and, depending on their professional goals, conduct academic research independently. I love mentoring adult students who are beginning and continuing their careers in special education. Because my research broadly focuses on early childhood intervention, assessment and diagnosis, and caregiver-mediated intervention, my mentees have various research topics and projects to choose from.
When TBI-SOS 4 Kids was funded by the Toyota Way Forward fund, it was no surprise that students began to gravitate to this project as their “choice” of research. TBI-SOS is a broad and complex project; it encompasses a system of care for children across their life span and exemplifies each child as integral members of their family, school, and community.
TBI-SOS and other CBIRT projects may begin a students’ research journey, but their journey with TBI is often not new. We find that many of our students have chosen CBIRT projects because they are driven by various reasons- some from personal experiences, others by curiosity.
I am excited to introduce the upcoming series of blogs by our student researchers where they tell their stories of “Why TBI?”
