A Collaborative Action Research about Making Self-Advocacy Videos with People with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

This article presents the results of a collaborative action research conducted with people living with intellectual disabilities (ID) who were going through a community integration process. To be successfully integrated into a community, they need to develop basic life skills as much as they need to learn to use mobile technologies for authentic interactions (Davidson, 2012) and to be self-advocates online (Davidson, 2009a). This study used the Capability Approach pioneered by Sen (1992) and Nussbaum (2000), which focusses on what people can do rather than on their deficiencies. I recruited a group of eight people with ID who wished to set goals, engage in developing new capabilities, share their goals and act as models for others with ID who want to learn to live on their own. In this article, I examine the process of developing self-advocacy videos with mobile technologies using the Capability Approach and I analyze the inventory of capabilities collected through this study. I provide recommendations for intervention through mobile technologies with the long term-goal of helping people with ID to become contributing citizens. I discuss the innovative action research methodology I used to help people with ID become self-advocates and take control of the messages they give through producing their own digital resources.

A capability approach for online primary and secondary students with disabilities

“…A capability approach also emphasises equality in agency rather than equality of opportunity, which is especially important in online education because it is a particularly agentic process. The main weakness of a capability approach in this situation is similar to its weaknesses in other analyses in the domain of welfare economics (Biggeri & Karkara, ; Comim, ; Davidson, ; Norwich, ; Unterhalter, ) – it provides no definition of causes of inequity. Researchers of online education for students with disabilities may also question whether a special individual education plan (IEP) process should be in place for students with disabilities in online education because some parts of the traditional IEP do not transfer to online education (for example, preferential seating in a classroom), and students probably need supports unique to online education.…”

“…Although Sen's capability approach was intentionally vague when it was introduced, it has since been used in a variety of practical ways (for example, Biggeri & Karkara, ; Comim, ; Davidson, ; Norwich, ; Unterhalter, ). Practitioners generally begin by delimiting a social domain and generating a list of capabilities associated with that domain.…”

Práticas colaborativas para intervenção em grupo com adolescentes e profissionais de saúde sobre sexualidade

“…Estas considerações são reforçadas pelas pesquisas encontradas na literatura, que apontam os ganhos das práticas colaborativas pautadas e possibilitadas pelo diálogo aberto e não julgador (Anderson, 2017;Davidson, 2015;Ness et al, 2019Ness et al, , 2016. Nossas práticas, orientadas pela sensibilidade em construir uma intervenção com adolescentes e profissionais (ao invés de para elas/es); a proposição das entrevistas preparatórias de grupo, com perguntas específicas para aprender com elas/es a como mediar esses encontros; a possibilidade de criar orientações para conviver nesses espaços coletivos; bem como elencar quais temáticas trabalharíamos conjuntamente foram algumas das proposições colaborativas que apoiamos para favorecer nossos encontros.…”

Resources Review: Adaptive (podcast), Montreal*in/accessible (mobile app), Accessible Arcade Tables (DIY project)

“…Content and resources created for minority groups (e.g. people living with disabilities) has traditionally been developed from a top-down approach, which positions the participant in the role of the consumer of knowledge… [instead] of the participant in the role of the producers of knowledge (Davidson, 2015). In response to this trend, people living with disabilities are innovating and developing their own helpful digital resources and sharing them globally.…”

“…In response to this trend, people living with disabilities are innovating and developing their own helpful digital resources and sharing them globally. Researchers have demonstrated the potential use of mobile technology to develop educational materials, such as self-advocacy videos, by people living with intellectual disabilities (Davidson, 2015). The goal of these innovators is to raise awareness of disabilities and to create tools, resources and content that target systemic barriers within a social model of disability.…”