AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

participants within this study the issues identified by Seymour and Lupton (2004) are
in some ways similar yet subtly different. The desire to “talk with everyone” appears
to supersede concerns of being misunderstood in text based communication. The
references to anonymity made in relation to profile photos “sometimes I don’t like to
put a picture of myself” were explained to discourage undesired contact from
strangers rather than altering perceptions of a physically disabled identity suggested
by Seymour and Lupton. The value of using online social media centred around issues
such as “people understand me better in writing” and being able to comment and look
at photos means it is possible to “communicate equally with everyone” and using
social media is a “really good way for people to get to know you better and
understand you [and] stop people feeling isolated”.
Participants primarily wanted to have cameras, not to prevent misunderstanding
through text based communication as suggested by participants in Seymour and
Lupton’s study, but to compensate for literacy challenges that prevented the use of
text-based communication. By being on camera individuals could communicate with
their family and friends using mutually understood total communication strategies and
the voice output on their communication aid. As discussed in the literature review
(section 2.2.5), Gandell and Sutton (1998) showed communicating through a
telecommunication medium allowed for a greater variety of utterances (especially an
increased use of ‘wh’ questions) by the person who uses AAC and gave them a
greater ability to control the interaction. They discuss how this has important
implications for intervention as assessments of communicative skill are often carried
out face-to-face so may give misleading information on utterance variety.
5.8.5. Reduced isolation
The current thesis shows the participants’ improved opportunities for talking to
people and keeping in touch with family, friends and old acquaintances from previous
life situations were perceived to have potential to “stop people feeling isolated”. This
supports previous literature by Ballin and Balandin (2007) who found increased levels
of loneliness in adults with cerebral palsy in part due to difficulties accessing
communication technologies such as telephones and internet sites. Cooper et al.
(2009) identified loneliness as a common experience for people who use AAC and
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