Page 16 - Mainstreamer Volume 1 Issue 2 Feb 2023

CRITICAL THOUGHT

their actual credentials. I would like to suggest a they may overcome their problems and how
few ideas on how serious and honest supervisors they achieved such high levels of performance.
may be when it comes to supervising candidates If there are handicapped academic achievers,
with disabilities: the supervisor must tap into their knowledge
and experience to supervise them.
1. Understand their problems. According to a
popular proverb, “If you just listen to a person’s It is said that people are only concerned about
problems, 35% of them are already solved.” another person’s problem if that person is a family
Candidates with disabilities face a lot more than member. People also believe that they can only
the difficulties of conducting research. They also understand another person’s problem if they are
experience emotional problems due to their going through something similar. Nobody wants
disability. For this purpose, the supervisor must their son or daughter to become disabled, and no
not only be competent in their area of expertise one wants to be disabled themselves. Does this
and emotionally responsive, but they must mean that people who are not disabled are unable
also understand the difficulties their disabled to understand and assist the disabled community?
student is facing and find ways to motivate
him or her. People with different disabilities Non-disabled people have the responsibility to
require different approaches to be motivated, understand and assist the disabled group. If we
necessitating specific training requirements for have supervisors who are not only specialists but
the supervisors. also emotionally attentive, disabled researchers
will be able to overcome barriers and achieve
2. A research is as much about the approach as greater success.
it is about the methodology. The basic aspect
of conducting research is determining what Pascal, the French philosopher, also stated that
type of data to use and how to analyze it. Non- knowing is a matter of faith and reason. When
disabled students may be comfortable with we conduct research, it is part of what our hearts
either a qualitative or quantitative method. desire to accomplish and what our logic seeks to
However, supervisors of a disabled candidate figure out. This is the kind of knowledge that all
must be skilled at evaluating various types of researchers strive for, and it is something that
data that are not only usable but also accessible supervisors are expected to be aware of. Disabled
for the student to collect. Obviously, this researchers go through the same process.
includes not only physical impediments, but The author loves reading books and serves as an
also financial management. In general, a non- illustrator and magazine formatter for the Mainstreamer
disabled may collect data overseas on their e-Magazine.
own. But some disabled students may require
personal attendant(s), which would double the
cost of transport, accommodation, and so on. If
local data is sufficient to complete a research,
why should we insist students to collect data
that is beyond their means? This requires the
supervisor’s wisdom and discretion.
3. Networking is also crucial. It is important not
only to require the candidate to network with
others, but also for the supervisors to form
a network with others. They should seek to
access information from associations concerned
with the psychology and wellbeing of persons
with disabilities. There are certainly many
handicapped achievers in every country. The
supervisor must speak with them about how

15 Vol. 01, Issue 2 | February 2023