Journal of Communication Disorders, Deaf Studies & Hearing Aids
Open Access

Abstract

Language, Identity and Technologies in Classrooms for the Differently- Abled

Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta and Ingela Holmström

This paper reports upon some of the overarching findings from project CIT at the CCD research network based environment in Sweden. It highlights the ways in which individuals and institutions both use and also account for the roles that technologies, particularly hearing-technologies (like sound amplifying technologies, outer ear hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone anchored hearing aids etc.), play in disabling and enabling access for participation in societal arenas generally and learning in mainstream and segregated school settings particularly. Taking both a sociocultural oriented perspective and a decolonial framework on communication, identity positions and use-oftechnologies, the study presented in this paper focuses ethnographically framed analysis of data that critically explores the role that different types of technologies play in the lives of individuals who are deaf. Some previous and ongoing analysis of data from a mainstream school where a blind child is a member is also drawn upon for contrastive purposes (JC project). Data and relevant findings from the following parallel Deaf Studies projects at CCD are also drawn upon: RGD project, SS project and LISA-21 project.