AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

Amanda’s memo thoughts on the transcription data
Rick's reaction captured on camera when she points to him was very animated. The
SLT and PA did not follow up why she pointed at Rick and the PA suggested she
found her friend's page on her VOCA. When I return to speak to her she selects
various friends and I do not notice at the time they are all male friends. Is there a
'blindness' in the SLT, PA and I about the subject of dating or contacting boys? It is
very natural for Faith to be interested in boys. Was Faith trying to tell everyone that
Rick is her boyfriend or was it that he was the only male in the room in her line of
sight? Is the well documented ‘asexualisation’ of people with disabilities the reason
this was not even on our radars so we failed to follow it up? Why did I assume the
first time Faith pointed to Rick that she wanted the SLT? Was my focus on the
'process' of making the VOCA work and not on thinking about the 'content' of her
intended message? Why did I not ask did she mean the SLT or Rick? Why did I
assume she wanted technical assistance? As I was not present when Faith re-pointed
at Rick (when he was sitting on his own) I can never know whether I would have
followed up on this.
An alternative scenario may be that the SLT or PA did not feel it was their place to
disclose that there might be a romantic link between Faith and Rick? It is easy for
communication partners to take over situations and maybe reveal information the
person using AAC did not want to share and communication partners sometimes err
on the side of caution rather than reveal a detail they know about with a relative
stranger. Later on the same day one of the male participants asked his PA to tell me
about the picture he was showing me. She laughed and said she was a good friend. As
he was so keen to show his friend to me I asked if she was his girlfriend and he
enthusiastically confirmed she was.
Could there be a reticence to mention a possibly 'personal' subject within the setting?
Do we feel inhibited? Have we made an assumption that we cannot be sure this is
what Faith is trying to tell us and so avoid initiating the subject? Do we think we are
protecting her by not making such a suggestion? Do we feel the setting would not
want us to bring it up? Is the SLT constrained by staff guidelines within this area? Am
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