The Autistic Me

Early Monday I leave for my first on-campus interview. Others are being scheduled, so the next month might be busy. This is a great thing in the face of weak job market. Multiple interviews are rare when so many institutions have hiring freezes or would prefer adjunct to tenure-track hiring. I've prepared the slide show, the career portfolio, and gathered other materials I might need. The clothes are planned, TSA-approved hygiene products purchased (small travel sizes), and all seems to be ready for the adventure. As I head off this week, I do so with some comfort that I likely have an offer from another university. The challenge then becomes deciding which places "feel right" when I visit.

I am on track to receive my Ph.D formally this April or May, depending on university paperwork processing. The dissertation is done, approved by my adviser, and only minor edits remain. The university bureaucracy is certainly navigable, though it is essential to have extra copies of every form on file. Now, I am on the job market as a "Ph.D Pending" (dissertation submitted). As I have previously stated, I am exiting most autism-related research after this academic year. I will continue to write and express my own views, but I have no interest in focusing the next 20 or more years of my life on autism. The debates, mistrust, and even hatred are too much for me to tolerate. The universities with which I have interviewed are hiring writing, new media, and visual design professors. One post includes the potential of teaching a graphical novel seminar, while another is primarily theatre and "rhetoric of performance" in media studies. In a tough, competitive job market, i...

I turned my dissertation draft in to my adviser shortly before Christmas. I am now waiting for suggestions, which will then allow me to finish the dissertation in January. If all goes according to plan, I will be done with my doctorate by April. The journey through graduate school will finally be over. There were false starts in the past. Failed attempts at M.Ed programs, when I hoped to return to teaching high school. One failed attempt at a journalism degree, which simply proved to be bad timing for me physically. Now, though, I have completed my M.A. in English and my Ph.D work in Rhetoric. It was a long, long journey. I count at least four attempts at a master's before I finally finished a program. Finishing was important because it finally meant I could teach full-time, at the community college level. My wife and my academic adviser were both equally responsible for my success. I needed her to keep me working through the rough times when I wanted to quit. I needed an adviser w...