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Cerebral palsy couldn't stop Kristin Rytter's drive for Ph.D.
Cerebral palsy couldn't stop Kristin Rytter's drive for Ph.D.
By
CHRISTINE FREY
P-I REPORTER
Kristin Rytter is believed to be the first University of Washington student
with cerebral palsy to earn a doctoral degree. Although she cannot speak and
cannot use her hands or feet, she has found ways to communicate, at times
spending 10 hours a day researching and writing. She is already sharing her
research with others outside the UW.
Her studies took nearly two decades, but UW officials are in awe of the
accomplishment. She is believed to be the university's first student with
cerebral palsy to receive a Ph.D.
Rytter, 41, cannot speak. She cannot use her hands or feet.
The Seattle woman communicates using an "eye code" she and her father
developed when she was young. She corresponds using a specially equipped
computer.
"I'm an all-or-nothing person," she said in a recent interview.
Her eyes light up when she talks about her research, which has focused on
disabled children who struggle to communicate. She works with parents to
help them look for cues that indicate the child is trying to talk, even if
the child can't speak. Her goal is to help parents better understand how to
interact with their disabled children.
One mother Rytter worked with didn't think that her young son, who has Down
syndrome, was communicating with her. But after watching the boy, Rytter
observed that he was trying to talk by pointing.
Rytter's own mother placed nametags on items around the house so she could
learn words. To "talk," Rytter moves her eyes to create letters and spell
out words. Looking at a person's shoulders, for instance, signifies the
letter "s." She has personal staff members who understand the code and
translate.
She can type on a laptop computer by moving her head against sensors,
tapping out words in Morse code. That's how she wrote her dissertation --
all 200-plus pages of it.
"She is just such a hard worker," said her mother, Sharon Rytter. "She's so
smart, and we hope she paves the way for others. She's been a trailblazer,
it seems to me, her entire life."
Kristin Rytter earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the UW in
1989. She pursued her doctorate over the next 17 years, defending her
dissertation last quarter. She will be hooded at graduation this spring.
Despite her own communication limitations, Rytter devoted years to her work,
at times spending 10 hours a day researching and writing.
For her dissertation defense, she prepared a PowerPoint show and had someone
voice record her written presentation, which she played on a computer.
Afterward, she presented written answers to questions her committee
submitted ahead of time.
"It was a pretty phenomenal event," said Eugene Edgar, a professor of
special education who was on her dissertation committee.
Rytter, he said, is highly intelligent and tenacious -- a trait she needed
to make it through the doctoral program.
Family members and friends attended her presentation. As thanks for their
support, Rytter gave them memory books that she had made. They included
paintings she had created using a brush taped to her glasses -- a hobby that
gave Rytter a break from her research work.
She is already sharing her research with others outside the UW.
Last month, Rytter gave a commencement speech to the department of speech
and hearing science at the University of New Mexico, where her former UW
adviser now leads the department. She encouraged graduates not to
underestimate the abilities of people with disabilities.
Rytter spoke about "how important it is to listen to and learn from people
with disabilities and their support systems. This is true no matter how
language and/or cognitively delayed people are. They have their own
personalities, preferences and capabilities to participate in life."
Now that she has earned her doctorate, Rytter hopes to continue her research
and start an online consulting business.
"She really could contribute to this field," said Judy McDonald, a
speech-language pathologist who worked with Rytter when she was a child.
"She will have an edge over other people with her same training," McDonald
said, "because she has an insight that only she can have."
Cerebral palsy couldn't stop Kristin Rytter's drive for Ph.D.
By
CHRISTINE FREY
P-I REPORTER
Kristin Rytter is believed to be the first University of Washington student
with cerebral palsy to earn a doctoral degree. Although she cannot speak and
cannot use her hands or feet, she has found ways to communicate, at times
spending 10 hours a day researching and writing. She is already sharing her
research with others outside the UW.
Her studies took nearly two decades, but UW officials are in awe of the
accomplishment. She is believed to be the university's first student with
cerebral palsy to receive a Ph.D.
Rytter, 41, cannot speak. She cannot use her hands or feet.
The Seattle woman communicates using an "eye code" she and her father
developed when she was young. She corresponds using a specially equipped
computer.
"I'm an all-or-nothing person," she said in a recent interview.
Her eyes light up when she talks about her research, which has focused on
disabled children who struggle to communicate. She works with parents to
help them look for cues that indicate the child is trying to talk, even if
the child can't speak. Her goal is to help parents better understand how to
interact with their disabled children.
One mother Rytter worked with didn't think that her young son, who has Down
syndrome, was communicating with her. But after watching the boy, Rytter
observed that he was trying to talk by pointing.
Rytter's own mother placed nametags on items around the house so she could
learn words. To "talk," Rytter moves her eyes to create letters and spell
out words. Looking at a person's shoulders, for instance, signifies the
letter "s." She has personal staff members who understand the code and
translate.
She can type on a laptop computer by moving her head against sensors,
tapping out words in Morse code. That's how she wrote her dissertation --
all 200-plus pages of it.
"She is just such a hard worker," said her mother, Sharon Rytter. "She's so
smart, and we hope she paves the way for others. She's been a trailblazer,
it seems to me, her entire life."
Kristin Rytter earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the UW in
1989. She pursued her doctorate over the next 17 years, defending her
dissertation last quarter. She will be hooded at graduation this spring.
Despite her own communication limitations, Rytter devoted years to her work,
at times spending 10 hours a day researching and writing.
For her dissertation defense, she prepared a PowerPoint show and had someone
voice record her written presentation, which she played on a computer.
Afterward, she presented written answers to questions her committee
submitted ahead of time.
"It was a pretty phenomenal event," said Eugene Edgar, a professor of
special education who was on her dissertation committee.
Rytter, he said, is highly intelligent and tenacious -- a trait she needed
to make it through the doctoral program.
Family members and friends attended her presentation. As thanks for their
support, Rytter gave them memory books that she had made. They included
paintings she had created using a brush taped to her glasses -- a hobby that
gave Rytter a break from her research work.
She is already sharing her research with others outside the UW.
Last month, Rytter gave a commencement speech to the department of speech
and hearing science at the University of New Mexico, where her former UW
adviser now leads the department. She encouraged graduates not to
underestimate the abilities of people with disabilities.
Rytter spoke about "how important it is to listen to and learn from people
with disabilities and their support systems. This is true no matter how
language and/or cognitively delayed people are. They have their own
personalities, preferences and capabilities to participate in life."
Now that she has earned her doctorate, Rytter hopes to continue her research
and start an online consulting business.
"She really could contribute to this field," said Judy McDonald, a
speech-language pathologist who worked with Rytter when she was a child.
"She will have an edge over other people with her same training," McDonald
said, "because she has an insight that only she can have."
