‘Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders’ special issues

Abstract

Regardless of the range of linguistic and communicative resources available to people, their life-worlds are embedded within complex, semiotically rich environments in which they organize themselves into collaborative activities. They dance together or read or cook together; they go shopping or visit the cinema; they play board games or play in a band; they take art classes or play a team sport; they work together. Indeed, although some social activities may present some people with additional challenges, they can also provide members with important organizational routines, templates that support and underpin people's social engagement with one another. Such activity frameworks can be sufficiently stable to permit divergence from the normative patterns of being, inviting play and creativity to emerge, endorsing atypical patterns of expression and mutual engagement; they can also enable social participation, which may otherwise be difficult or impossible. In short, opportunities for activity, inclusivity, and creativity can be life-enhancing for people diagnosed with communication disorders. And the research that falls within this theme therefore contributes to increasing our understanding of effective practices for managing active participation in such activities, and the types of social participation that these activities allow for.The articles published across the next two issues of Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders were first presented at the Atypical Interaction Conference (AIC) 2022, hosted by Newcastle University, which had ' Activity, Inclusivity, Creativity' as its focal theme.