AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

children and young people to be consulted on matters that concern them and their
rights to be protected. They say children and young people may sometimes feel they
have had limited opportunities to be heard.
Recruiting within educational settings can also lead to concerns of whether
participants are willing interviewees as teaching staff occupy specific power
positions. Conversely opportunities for inclusion may be constrained by decisions
about suitability. When children or young people are denied knowledge of research
that may be relevant to them because of concerns for their safety, their ability to
decide for themselves is denied (Campbell, 2008). Boggis (2011) in her research with
children who use AAC suggested it was ironic how they
“were last in this complex chain of consent [and their voices] were only heard once
many layers of adult consent were negotiated” (web resource, no page number).
Although it is impossible to find out if any young people who might have elected to
participate were excluded, I felt confident educational staff were interested in the
topic area and keen to offer participants the opportunity for involvement. This is
supported by the following example; two students declined to take part once they had
met me which shows they had been given the opportunity to know about the project
but also did not feel obliged to comply with staff expectations.
3.5.2. Inclusion criteria
Initial inclusion criteria required participants to be over 16 years of age, use AAC and
have access to the internet or some form of online social media. It was assumed the
requirement to access the internet and online social media would self-screen for
independent use based on literacy and cognitive abilities. One of the first approaches I
received was from a speech and language therapist in a special residential school and
adult centre asking if low cognitive and literacy abilities would exclude people from
participating in the study as she reported potential invitees within her educational
setting were using online social media with support. In line with the theoretical
influences outlined earlier (sections 3.2.1 & 3.2.2), I decided it would have been
unethical and undesirable to exclude people on the basis they did not use the internet
and online social media independently. Although at the time this seemed to be a
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