Individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities struggle to acquire and appropriately use social skills to improve the quality of their lives. These critical skills can be difficult to teach because they are context dependent and many students are not motivated to engage in instruction to learn them. The use of multi-modal technologies shows promise in the teaching a variety of skills to individuals with disabilities. iAnimate Live is a project that makes virtual environments, virtual characters (avatars), augmented reality, and animation more accessible for teachers and clinicians. These emerging technologies have the potential to provide more efficient, portable, accessible, and engaging instructional materials to teach a variety of social skills. After reviewing the relevant research on using virtual environments virtual characters (avatars) and animation for social skills instruction, this article describes current experimental applications exploring their use via the iAnimate Live project.

This article is about the challenge of communication via smartphones and tablets by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). We will give special attention to persons that struggle with verbal communication. One of our co-researchers, the fourth author, has a severe ID. She cannot read, write or use voice assisted technology in any functional manner. As a result of many years of collaboration, and the need for solutions in connection with the challenges with COVID-19, she and her family have developed ways of remote communication that can be mastered both by the person with an ID and the majority (those without similar disabilities). We call it doing and talking. Successful remote communication not only depends on technology and how to use it, but also on communication strategies that both work for the person with an ID and the majority. It is often the case that people with ID are expected to learn the skills necessary to adapt to the majority. We will show that success is just as much a question of the majority learning new skills and strategies that can make real inclusion and collaboration possible.

This article explores the emerging promise touchscreen devices hold for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). Many individuals with ID that struggle to read, write or use voice assisted strategies can use touchscreen devices in many aspects of their lives. Research has shown that touchscreen technology is available, easy to use and can open an array of empowering possibilities for individuals with ID. In this article we will be sharing research and a vision for possible uses of touchscreen devices in the future for individuals with ID. Our perspectives are shaped by our experiences with using touchscreen technology in collaboration with people who have ID. A special aspect of our research methodology is the fact that one of our co-researchers has ID.

Denne artikkelen handler om forskerens forhold til dem som involveres direkte i forskningen. I aksjonsforskningsprosjekter kalles de gjerne deltagere eller medforskere. I andre typer prosjekter kalles de ofte informanter. Enten det handler om den ene eller andre formen for forskning, kan det være grunner for å se nærmere på forholdet mellom forskningen og deltagerne. Et eksempel kan være spørsmålet om forskningens relevans. Hva gjør forskningen relevant? Hvem skal forskningen være relevant for? Det er fristende å tenke relevans som det å få resultater publisert i internasjonale tidsskrifter og å få artiklene sitert i de rette vitenskapelige miljøene. I denne artikkelen vil det bli vist måter å få til relevant forskning på for dem den involverer. Artikkelen baserer seg på metodeeksperimenter og presenteres som metode under utvikling. Selv om påstandene i artikkelen kan angå andre former for forskning, er det først og fremst relevans og medvirkning i aksjonsforskning som skal belyses. Metodeeksperimentene det vises til, er gjennomført innenfor et aksjonsforskningsprosjekt. Deltagerne er masterstudenter i yrkespedagogikk.