AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

concerns around socio-economic digital divide issues. Raghavendra et al. (2013)
illustrated through targeted intervention with adolescents with physical disabilities
(including a sub group with complex communication needs) that providing relevant
equipment and instruction on how to use the internet and online social media sites
increased the number of online communication partners and offered a new way to
extend social connections.
Another aspect of the current study in terms of a social capital perspective was the
evidence that bonding social capital was influenced by the ability to use the internet
and online social media to maintain close relationships more intensely especially from
within residential college settings and evidence of bridging social capital in terms of
helping to remove barriers and create opportunities to contact other AAC users in the
same setting and also from other college settings.
As discussed in the literature review (section 5.4.4.) the application of social capital
theory into online research environments by Williams (2006) and Ellison et al. (2007)
showed social media sites can support forms of bridging, bonding and maintained
social capital. This was supported by findings in the current research as participants
described how they used online social media, especially Facebook, to contact friends
and teachers from old schools and to keep in touch with friends who had moved onto
college. They also described keeping in touch with family and friends in different
countries and searching for people they had lost touch with online. As noted
previously many people with physical disabilities find it incredibly difficult to keep in
touch with people when they move on. VOCAs may have the names of old friends
and teachers no longer seen programmed within the vocabulary items. Online social
media is changing the dynamics of maintaining social ties for young people who use
AAC.
5.8.4. “Talk to everyone”
One of the main descriptions applied to the benefits of the internet and online social
media by the participants was the opportunity to “talk to everyone”. As discussed in
the literature (section 2.2.7) Grove and Tucker (2003) and Waller (2006) describe the
importance of interactional communication for developing friendships. For the
217