Becoming Through Conversation--I, You, We, Me, & Us: Conceptualizing Silence, Voice, Listening, and Love With Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy Who Do Not Speak

<p>Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy who do not speak and use augmentative and assistive technology often experience conversations that disregard their modes of communication or exclude them. Ableism centered on communication and technology is often at the root of how these adolescents are talked about, talked over, or left out of communication. I used a post-modern and post-human qualitative research approach, plugging in theory, literature, song lyrics, and my personal experiences as an insider, as the mother of an adolescent with Cerebral Palsy who does not speak. I conducted conversations with youth collaborators and interviewed their mothers about perceptions, theirs and others, of what it means to communicate. Insights into conversations that allow us to become and be who we are, rather than identities we are assigned, focused on patience, presence, and a belief in presumptive competence.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - NLU Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Disability and Equity in Education

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Schwartz-Johnston, Ramona

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Jan Valle
• Dr. Terry Jo Smith
• Dr. Dean Adams

• ableism
• ableism in communication
• augmentative and alternative communication
• becoming
• Cerebral Palsy
• dysconscious ableism
• technoableism
• Accessibility
• Disability and Equity in Education
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/695

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1748