We had a proposal defense session for Dr. Zakiah’s PhD student this morning. The session was chaired by AP Dr. Aqeel with Dr. Rustam as his assistance. While Prof. Yeo and myself as the examiners.

Among the main points I learned today is that contextualising special education in a PhD research project requires a candidate to:

(1) accurately conceptualise the research focus (i.e. in this project the focus is children with autism);

(2) differentiate the terms employed (for example what is the differences between “special education” and “inclusive education”);

(3) highlight the issue within the Malaysian context (e.g. the issue of diagnosis of autism in Malaysia).

Thank you Prof. Yeo for the detail explanations related to the three points mentioned above. And congratulations to Natasha Amira (PPPE) for successfully negotiated her proposal defence. All best wishes.