Special Needs Parenting and the PhD with Kaisa Pankokoski

Dr Kaisa Pankakoski is a writer, researcher, translator, and multilingualism consultant. For her PhD at Cardiff University she looked at multilingual families’ language ideologies, strategies, and experiences in Finland and Wales. During the course of her PhD, she gained grants from eleven different funding bodies in her two home countries to complete the thesis. In this episode Kaisa reflects on the turning point when she decided to return to academia and focus on researching multilingual families.  She discusses her research journey over eight years and the range of activities she took part in over that time.   In the discussion of caregiving alongside the PhD Kaisa emphasizes the emotional and mental toll of special needs parenting, including the constant worry and caregiving responsibilities. She  emphasizes the importance of taking breaks, avoiding overworking, and prioritizing self-care.  Kaisa mentions the value of attending retreats to create a space for relaxation and creativity. Kaisa offers some top tips and a range of resources including:   Blog posts Self-care during PhD https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/doctoral-academy-blog/10-self-care-tips-for-the-phd/  Writing retreat https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/doctoral-academy-blog/should-you-go-on-a-writing-retreat/?preview=true  Words of wisdom, two blog posts, altogether 40 top tips! https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/doctoral-academy-blog/words-of-wisdom-for-new-postgraduate-researchers-part-one-2/  https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/doctoral-academy-blog/words-of-wisdom-for-new-postgraduate-research-students-part-two/    Facebook groups:  Bridging the Gap Community Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/410364763121879  PhD and Early Career Researcher Parents  https://www.facebook.com/groups/776957585681408    Apps: Forest App: https://www.forestapp.cc/   We also mention the Rowena Murray podcast episode:  https://thephdliferaft.libsyn.com/rowena-murray   You can contact Kaisa here:  https://twitter.com/kaisapan https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisapankakoski/ For a transcript of this episode go to www.thephdliferaft.com If you would like to receive a useful weekly email from the PhD Life Raft you can sign up here for ‘Notes from the Life Raft’: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft