Increased Agency through Screens and Co-Creation – Literacy Practices within a Group of People with Aphasia at a Swedish Folk High School

Abstract

This article aims to analyse characteristics of collective and authentic literacy practices within a group of people with aphasia attending an aphasia course at a Swedish folk high school. The group included 12 individuals with aphasia who were studied during a period of 3 weeks. Ethnographic data consists of video and audio recordings, photos and field notes. Two main characteristics of the literacy practices were identified: digital screens dominated and bridged the online/offline boundary, and shared knowledge enabled the participants to co-create literacy. The literacy practices were emancipatory, because they provided ways for the participants to unmask their inherent competence, increasing their agency. When the use of digital technology transforms a (formerly non-literacy) practice into a multimodal literacy practice, and when an individual with aphasia becomes part of a literacy co-creation practice, the disability (understood as a relation between individual and environmental characteristics) caused by aphasia is reduced.