Referential Doing: Toward Explicit Inclusion of Multimodal Communication in a Transition Program

• In Event: Exploring Multiple Languages in Emancipatory Praxis

Abstract

This paper investigates the ways in which participants of a transition program for students with intellectual/developmental disabilities use diverse sets of communication moves and modalities to participate socially. The paper builds on the work of Ana Cruz's discussion of supporting deaf students interested in music to expand into how communication support for individuals who are labeled minimally or nonverbal can be supported through Critical Pedagogy. The paper uses examples from an ethnographic study to demonstrate how participants use literacy materials (those existing and those they create), their style and their relational choices to share interests, information about their identities and their affiliation.

Author

• Renee Starowicz, University of California - Berkeley