Philosophiæ Doctor hic venio

Or PhD here I come!

I guess this is going to be the smuggest, most self satisfied and self congratulatory post in my career of blogging so far but I am really as chuffed as a bowl of badger fat to discover that my gamble has paid off and I have been accepted for doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

In making this announcement I have to acknowledge my thanks to those various bloggers who assisted me in meeting the shortfall of my fees this year. If I had been forced to drop out, this would be happening now.

What am I going to research?

Well there are a lot of videos out there purporting to say something about autism, either to families, to professionals or the world in general but nobody has ever bothered to carry out any objective research into what good they actually do. (if any at all). In carrying out this research I am combining the skills I learned from my media HND, which allow me to analyse and deconstruct video according to well established practice, with the academic and personal knowledge of autism I have gained in my current and earlier studies at Birmingham (and work in advocacy generally).

I suppose I also ought to be thumbing my nose at the faculties of psychology at Warwick, Leicester, (and yes Birmingham too) who a year ago decided I was not qualified enough to pursue an undergrad degree in psychology.

Well less than a year ago, I entered Birmingham University as an undergrad, not all that long afterwards progressed onto post grad study, and now I am ready for doctoral research. That has to be something of a record progression in any University!

Not only that I have in 16 weeks of study at an evening course, gained the equivalent of another A level. The City and Guilds 7302 qualification in delivering adult learning.

Naturally this is only the beginning, but a fine new beginning at that, ten years on from my mothers death. I only wish she were here to see it.

There is a lot of hard work ahead, not only adapting to a different style of academic work as a researcher, but in writing off to all and sundry in order to secure the funds to keep this study going over the next few years. I guess I shall have to be a little more polite about (or as someone else has pointed out, 'to') my fellow researchers from now on :)