"Freedom herself is very agile, very co-dependent, and a lovely person": The School Identities of High School Aged Youth with Communication Differences

Abstract

Keywords

adolescent identities, speech disabilities, high school structures, facilitated communication, alternative and augmentative communication

Abstract

Three users of Facilitated Communication, between the ages were observed and interviewed (utilizing methods found in Biklen & Bogdan, 2007, along with their parents and speech pathologist, about their lives, in particular their school lives. The study was concerned with the intersection between disability identity, Facilitated Communication / alternative and augmentative communication usage, and adolescent identities with special focus on how this intersection impacts these students at school. Data was collected and coded utilizing theories both from Nancy Lesko's conceptualization of the construction of adolescence (2001) and Martha Sheridan's work on lifeworld identities (2008).The study reveals how inclusion and exclusion in and out of school impact student attitudes toward school in general and academic work specifically, as well as independence / interdependence / co-dependence issues.