Special Needs Parenting and the PhD with Kaisa Pankokoski

The PhD Life Raft Podcast

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

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