On the Practice of Technologically Mediated Communication of People without Spoken Language
The project deals with the question: How do technology and media shape everyday life, social practices and life with a physical disability? Empirical answers to this question are sought by describing the media-technologically structured communication of speech computer users living with infantile cerebral palsy and without spoken language. If someone speaks mediated by a speech computer, complex social practices emerge through these media technologies, which significantly shape, enable and/or disable the everyday life of users. On the basis of sociological theories of practice, two topics will be further discussed: Firstly, the significance of embodied knowledge for participation in social practices mediated by a certain technology. Here, the reciprocal contributions of bodies and things in everyday practices of perception and communication are the focus. Second, the use of modern technology by people with physical disabilities shows how assistance, cooperation and agency are negotiated in the execution of everyday practices and social interactions.