Faculty of Education
School of Educational Studies
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC)
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
A considerable amount of research has been directed towards the question of how children with disabilities can be supported and assisted in meeting the challenges imposed by their condition. Much of this research is “problem focused” – in other words, it concentrates on the disability itself and on ways in which it can be ameliorated or improved.
Researchers at the University’s Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) have conducted a study that represents a radical departure from this paradigm. The three-year study, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in cooperation with the NRF, and undertaken in collaboration with the Children-Health-Intervention-Learning-Development (CHILD) programme at Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden, focuses on positive functioning and on ways to use existing processes in a child and family’s interaction as a basis of intervention.
The study comprised four specific projects. The first explored the role of engagement in play and participation. It emphasised the gains and joy that a child may derive from active involvement in play activities.
A second project proceeded from the notion that a child’s involvement in activities greatly depends on the extent to which the child’s interest and skill are accommodated in the nature and demands of those activities. The concept of activities, as described in the international classification of functioning, was explored as a basis for intervention.
A third project focused on social networks and their role in promoting positive family functioning, while the fourth explored aspects of current parental support systems in Sweden and South Africa and how these facilitate or inhibit positive family functioning.
The findings of all these projects emphasise the importance of looking beyond the disability in facilitating intervention of a young child within the family
Contact person: Prof E Alant.
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