Decolonizing Disability Research Through AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) User–Led Inquiry

• In Event: Traversing Boundaries Together: Centering Disabled Ways of Being and Knowing

Abstract

This theoretical paper seeks to answer the following questions: In what ways does current disability research serve, “other,” or otherwise disenfranchise people with communication disabilities who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)?  What would research look like that centers AAC users as producers of knowledge?  How can academics serve as colleagues, allies, listeners, and amplifiers of AAC voices? We explore the potential of justice-oriented methodologies, such as Community Based participatory Action Research to subvert the objectification and.or exclusion of AAC users predominant within educational research.

Authors

• Amy Hanreddy, California State University - Northridge

• Grant Blasko, University of Washington