Ashlyn Carter, Senior Honors Student; & (formerly in foster care) sister, Addilyn Carter

Author: Ashlyn Carter | Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders | Semester: Fall 2023

My name is Ashlyn Carter, and I am a senior honors student at the University of Arkansas. My major is Communication Sciences and Disorders and my minor is Child Advocacy. I’m in the College of Education and Health Professions. My mentor, Dr. Kimberly Frazier, is a long-time professor in the COEHP department.

My research thesis is called “Foster Parents’ Knowledge of Communication Disorders”. I am researching the information and knowledge that foster parents have of signs, delays, and issues that coincide with a speech disorder or hearing delay. I’m working to find what information these parents lack and how capable they are of getting their children the therapy and help that they need. I have begun surveying foster parents in the Sebastian County area, hoping to see what areas they need to learn more about and how someone can improve the training that foster parents go through in order to better equip them to acknowledge and work through their foster children’s needs. As of today, I have received responses from 37 foster families.

In searching for a topic for my research thesis, I explored many options. However, this topic was the one that truly piqued my interest. I have grown up seeing foster children come into my home and have a lot of experience with what they go through and the many challenges that come along with foster care. During the 2022 spring semester, I took CDIS 3901H, the Honors CDIS Thesis Tutorial course that prepares sophomores to begin working on their theses. During this course, I talked through my thesis ideas with Dr. Glade, and she encouraged me to work with the passion I have for foster care in order to make a project I truly care about. She recommended that I reach out to Dr. Frazier and ask her to be my honors mentor throughout this project. When I met with Dr. Frazier, we began brainstorming and came up with the idea I am working with now.

This semester, I have completed my survey and sent it out to foster parents. I am gathering data to create an outline of responses in order to further my work. I plan to finish this during Winter Break and be ready to have my project completed in the spring.

My faculty mentor, Dr. Kimberly Frazier, has helped me come up with useful questions to achieve the gathering of all the information I need for this thesis. She worked with me to create a title, plan a schedule, and prepare to complete this project in the time I have. She has worked with me through each step of creating and sending out my survey.

Next semester, I will finalize details and officially work through data I have gathered in order to use my literature review to finish my entire project with a compelling, research-driven viewpoint.