Abstract:

Communication is a fundamental right of all people - even those with complex impairments (cf. Light et al. 2019: 1). At the same time, the fundamental right to social participation can only be realized through communication.

This connection is also pointed out by the "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" (CRPD) adopted by the United Nations in 2006. In Article 9, the CRPD deals with the necessity "to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, [...] to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems" (UN 2006, Article 9). This formulation makes it clear that this also refers to media access. People with complex impairments are often unable to communicate independently with their environment. Although they can partly express themselves in body language (e.g., via facial expressions, gestures, or sounds), the complexity of linguistic expressions is not achieved here (cf. Krstoski 2019). In addition, even people with severe physical disabilities often do not have this form of expression at their disposal. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) can help to overcome these handicaps. The aim is to use (analog and digital) aids to enable non-linguistic and physically severely restricted people to communicate - and thus offer them the chance to participate (cf. Goldman 2018). With her capability approach, the philosopher Martha Nussbaum (2006) has particularly prominently advocated this enabling of communication and participation as an ethical and political demand. Especially in the area of special education, this ethical demand must be applied pedagogically (cf. Broderick 2018).

The paper illustrates this application of the capability approach in a case study on an electronic communication aid that is used as a substitute language (cf. Krstoski 2019). This device is an iPad on which the GoTalkNow app is used with so-called Metacom symbols, which are particularly easy to understand. The user is an eleven-year-old schoolgirl who learns the possibility of communication via the iPad and thereby expands her daily leeway for action (in the school and extracurricular context). These leeways will be presented as an example in order to illustrate the different possibilities of using digital media in everyday (school) life and to break down the still existing pedagogical reservations of teachers towards the use of digital media (cf. Fraillon et al. 2019).

Keywords:

AAC, special education, case study, media communication, capability approach.