Film as an Augmentative Tool for Storytelling

Session

3.04

Research Stream

• • Mascha Legel (Radboud University, Netherlands)
  • Annalu Waller (University of Dundee)

Funding / Sponsorship:

Project is funded by four Dutch Foundations: (NSGK), Revalidatie Fonds, VSB Fonds and Phelps Stichting for Spastici.

Summary

To present a research project My Film, My Story in which an innovative interdisciplinary method has been developed using self-created film, by children-young adults with Complex Communication Needs (CCN), for the purpose of sharing daily personal narratives.

Method/Activities/Techniques

Film as Observable Communication (FaOC) is a method in development, which is being validated through practical implementation. In the project My Film, My Story, children and young adults with CCN learned how to make films of daily life events, for the purpose of telling their story with the assistance of their film. The FaOC-method has been developed and validated in parallel to this project “My-Film, My-Story” as part of a research project at Radboud University in collaboration with University of Dundee.

Results/Findings

The first results demonstrate the enjoyment enjoyed by the children and their communication partners when relating personal narrative using the children’s self-created films. Conversations using film were more extended than those without film with more topics and themes being observed.

Conclusions

An interdisciplinary approach, merging AAC and Visual Anthropology, can create new enjoyable activities and communication methods for children who use AAC. The knowledge of Visual Anthropology can be used as practical guide to use film as assistive tool in daily personal narrative and has benefits in supporting expressive-language-learning.

Level of Session

Introductory

Age Group

Child
Adolescent

Interest

Primary school
Secondary school
Special school
Transitions