Communicative Work: Establishing Communication by Severely Disabled Children in Small Group Homes

Abstract

The aim of the article is to provide new insights into the lives of severely intellectually disabled children who are living in Norwegian small group homes. The research question is designed to address how these children, who have limited verbal language, initiate communication in order to participate in everyday life in an institutional setting. The main research method was participant observation within three residential units. Eleven children and young people participated alongside the caring staff. The author identifies and discusses four modes of communication, three of them initiated by the children in relation to the institutional residential context: communicative environment, collaborative conversations, communicative rituals, and bodily expressions laden with meaning. The analysis is framed in the context of a monologue-dialogue dichotomy. The findings indicate that in many ways the children appear to act beyond their anticipated limited cognitive capabilities through their communicative work. However, to achieve their communicative potential, the children are dependent on the staff's communicative behaviour and responses, as well as the institutional frames.

Whose Voices Matter? Use, Misuse and Non-Use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Among Severely Disabled Children in Small Group Homes

“…In their conclusion, they presented the concept of 'being silenced', describing the most complexly disabled children as difficult to reach, even when using an AAC tool (ibid: 106). Some glimpses into intellectually disabled children's and adolescents' lives in institutional settings are provided by Fylkesnes (2020). She examines various modes of communicative initiatives and how these are dealt with by sensitive and engaged institutional staff and demonstrates that institutional frames and the staff's practical care duties for the residents in many everyday situations override the children's attempts to raise their voices.…”