Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is part of everyday life in various ways. This thesis focuses on the connection between disability and ICT among pupils with intellectual disabilities and on ways for researcher to study human and technology. The aim has been to study how ICT, agency and disability become constructed in a collective made up by actors such as humans (pupils with intellectual disabilities) and non-humans (computers, mobile phones, policy-documents).Two studies at two schools (totally the studies included nine classes) in the Norrbotten area in Sweden were conducted as a way to disentangle the aim and research questions. The studies which underlie this thesis are based on observations and interviews among six pupils in three classes in their everyday schooldays. Additionally an analysis of Bill 2004/05:175 was conducted.The thesis presents reviews of theoretical and methodological resources from disability studies, feminist studies and science and technology studies, Actor-Network Theory in particular, as well as an analysis of selected empirical material from the classes and Bill 2004/05:175. The analysis was conducted through themes, namely the following: introducing the classes, the schooldays and the school setting, the pupils' everyday life in school, the policy and understanding about intellectual disability among pupils, using ICT during the schooldays, ICT in everyday life, the youths' views of the computer, the ICT policies in Sweden and a sustainable ICT society for all.The main findings present how pupils with intellectual disability live disability, how the pupils regard disability and technology (express disability and technology to be). The thesis additionally explores how the pupils talk about themselves as users and how this in turn also relates to policy practices (more specifically, on the expressions in various statements in the bill and its focus on use, user and access). Another concern is how disability becomes intertwined with technology. Moreover, the thesis explores how actors in a form of collective bear effects on the body and its intertwining with disability and technology. Additionally, it examines the ways the pupils see themselves and how they act. The study shows that forms of unity as well as differences regarding access and users of ICT are found in the practice of policy-making as well as in the pupils' practices. The thesis additionally disentangles how one as a researcher can give voice to human and technology interaction when researching disabled pupils' agency and subjectivity. Thus, the thesis explores ways for researchers to study human and technology without relying on boundaries between them while at the same time being responsible in her/his claims. Here the work draws upon work from feminist studies; an inspirational source is Donna Haraway and more specifically her concept of situated knowledge.
Aim: To discuss what the work of Donna Haraway can contribute to disability studies The disability movement has debated the principle of normalisation, meaning among other things that all citizens should have equal access to society's services. The feminist technoscience scholar, Donna Haraway, has by her concept of situated knowledge, made the notion of equality concerning technology and professional practices problematic. Method: A qualitative study was conducted among students and teachers in special needs education to explore their use of IT. Further, a textual analysis of the Swedish IT-vision was conducted to understand how policymakers include societal differences (i.e. disability, gender) in their practices. Results: A situated knowledge perspective enables ways to question teachers' and policy-makers' practices as gendering and dis/abling. Conclusions: By relying on Haraway's perspective, where research starts from everyday practices, it is clear that policy-makers define relations between professionals' practices and I. It is in this definition, where it is argued that IT should be equal among all citizens, that gender and disability become constructed. Further, the teachers' practices are closely intertwined with the ITvision, by the policy-makers' demand to use IT as a pedagogical tool. Thus, they construct/challenge gendering/disabling practices.
This article presents an explorative study which aims to explore the interference of disability, gender, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), research experience, and the accountability that comes with making knowledge claims. It draws on interviews with two women working with disability in the Sultanate of Oman and an autobiographical account by the researcher. The research contributes to the relatively sparse literature about disability, gender, and ICT in the Sultanate of Oman. The study articulates that the concept of situated knowledges and the notion of interference enable the researcher to capture the intra-actions between the researcher, the participants in the research, the research context, and knowledge production. This enables making accountable knowledge claims about the interference of disability, gender, and ICT. The article focuses on the following questions: How is interference implicated in the epistemological dimension? How are interference and situated knowledges intra-acting?1
This thesis focuses on the relationships between agency, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and people with disability (in various ages). The aim has been to create an understanding by describing and analysing, and as such, to develop knowledge of how people with disabilities experience agency, ICT, and disability in their everyday lives. The frame of reference is inspired by disability studies, feminist studies and science and technologies studies (STS). The empirical material was collected in, Norrbotten (Sweden’s northernmost region) and Muscat (the capital area of the Sultanate of Oman) by an autobiographical account, audio-visual material, drawings, interviews, observations, and reading of textual documents. The thesis consists of six papers. The main findings outline that agency, ICT, disability, and gender are part of intra-actions between material entities (such as bodies, technologies, etc.) and practices. The thesis also explores that disability in Sweden and Oman are understood in a variety of ways. Additionally, it presents that the combination of the notions of interference with situated knowledges can contribute with alternative methodological insights about the interference of disability, gender, ICT, the participants’ and researchers’ experiences and understandings to make accountable knowledge claims. Moreover, the thesis presents that material entities (bodies and technologies) and practices are part of different modes of ordering disability which bear effects on the lives of people with disabilities. It additionally disentangles that materialities such as the Internet intra-act with other material entities (for instance, bodies) and practices which enact various forms of agency which bear effects on the everyday lives of people with disability and their ways to participate. Finally, the thesis outlines some implications that an intra-acting understanding of the use of Internet can contribute with in research which focuses on disability, participation, and agency.
This article examines how a group of students with visual disabilities speak about becoming disabled and living with disability in relation to: material entities, practices, and their own expectations regarding the future in the Sultanate of Oman. It draws upon individual interviews among six adults with visual disabilities. The article outlines, from a material semiotics approach, how various forms of modes of ordering enact disability. An interdisciplinary approach, informed by disability studies and science and technology studies, is implemented to interpret: How do students with visual disabilities express the relationships between material entities (such as bodies and technologies) and practices? In what ways are these relationships enacting different modes of ordering disability? What kind of modes of ordering disability are the participants experiencing in their lives? How have they responded to the modes of ordering that they have encountered?
This study introduces how technology and humans are part of relationships that influence agency among people with disabilities. It aims to focus attention on the use of, and access to, information and communication technology (ICT), and agency among youths and adults with intellectual disabilities. The study draws on empirical research conducted with youths and adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as staff at a day centre. It shows that by drawing upon interests, previous experiences, and cooperating in ICT activities the participants’ agency changed. Also, it shows how disability is relational and how it can be influenced by ICT. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted to interpret the findings and to explore: How do people of different ages with intellectual disabilities experience the use of ICT in their everyday lives? Are people with intellectual disabilities able to influence their level of activity by using ICT? And if so, in what ways?
This article aims to offer insights into how people living with intellectual disabilities by intraacting with researchers and technology, can inform and improve participation in research and the dissemination of it. It draws upon the experiences from adults with intellectual disabilities and researchers participating in the production of audio-visual material. The audio-visual material was initiated and produced by a team in UK with participants living with intellectual disabilities and was based on an earlier article written by the two researchers. This current article highlights the importance of enabling people with disabilities to participate in the research (in various phases, settings, and ways) and as such also make accountable knowledge claims which can bear effects on the life of people with disabilities in their everyday practices and in relation to technology (such as information and communication technology, ICT). The approach, based on a material-semiotic and intra-actional understanding sheds light on the following questions: How can research be guided so that people with intellectual disabilities, the target groups of the research, become involved as actors and participants in the various phases of research concerning them? Can technology, such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), empower people with intellectual disabilities to become involved in research concerning them? And if so, in what ways.
In this article, disability and its interplay with gender in the Sultanate of Oman are explored. Previous research on this issue in Oman has been conducted adopting a medical model. Consequently, the interrelations between the individual and wider society in relation to disability have only been marginally researched. This research, however, explores the interrelation of disability and gender and the co-construction of their meanings for students with visual disabilities. In comparison with other studies – particularly in the Arabian Gulf, where disability is often explored from the standpoint of caregivers, politicians, etc. – this research specifically strives to include disabled students’ views and social experiences. Moreover, the interplay between educational, religious, and cultural practices is analyzed. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered at the only state-run school for students with visual disabilities in the capital area. The sample is balanced by gender and comprises 30 students aged 14–23, as well as one key religious figure and one representative of a non-governmental organization. The study shows that despite investments and awareness-raising campaigns, various forms of social practice exist that construct and reconstruct the meanings of disability and gender. Additionally, it is revealed that there is a political need to initiate a relational model of gender and disability to further improve the situation for students with disability in Oman.