månadsarkiv: december 2016

Third day of the @IARC2016 #aphasia conference 

The third day of Christmas – no, sorry – the conference! Two keynote speakers, four platform talks, a load of parallell workshops and twenty three posters. Puh! 

Some very brief thoughts from a tired but happy brain: 

1) When researchers like Miranda Rose and Carola de Beer talks about multimodality, they mean non-verbal language such as gestures. That if, of course, both important and interesting – but it makes me wonder how they think about the multimodality of the Internet. I whish we’d had more time to chat about that, but I’m hoping there will be more opportunities in the future. 

2) Great to chat with Madeleine Crucie about issues of identityin terms of psychological wellbeing (and thus health). She truly is an inspiration!

3) I will definitely stay tuned on the EVA park-project! A virtual would (very much like Second Life, btw) for people with aphasia to practice social interaction – how cool is that? 

4) Already looking forward to the 18th IARC conference in Portugal in September 2018. See you there!


Second day of the @IARC2016 #aphasia conference

Another great day at the IARC aphasia conference! Two keynote speakers, eight platform talks, four lightning talks and twenty two posters – including mine. Thank you, all, for coming to chat about issues of online identity! I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Two very brief thoughts: 1) I can’t wait to read the upcoming systematic review by Caroline Baker et al, on depression in aphasia. 2) It was great hearing Madeleine Cruice talk about quality of life in aphasia and the potentially very positive impact of speech and language therapists. Since my project is taking place within the setting of ”Health and lifestyle”, her research is highly relevant (since identity issues are important for quality of life, and since quality of life is an important part of health). 



First day of the @IARC2016 #aphasia conference

What a day! One keynote speaker, eight platform talks, five lightning talks and twenty two poster presentations.  I am inspired by the ambition level of the presenter projects, and the dedication of the researchers. 

Two very brief thoughts: 

1) Research about tele-rehabilitation (using e.g. Adobe Connect or Skype) is obviuosly trending. Keep your eyes open for interesting results coming up from all around the globe (not least Australia and Norway)! 

2) There is no consensus about how the issue of identity should be addressed. Some argue that the goal is to maintain the pre-stroke identity, while others argue that the key to success is to embrace the new post-stroke identity (including aphasia). 



London, and @IARC2016, here I come!

One week from today, I’ll be on my way to London, to attend the International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference (IARC).  To quote the IARC web page, the conference ”is based on a tradition of excellence, and brings together researchers and clinical specialists in Speech-Language Pathology, Linguistics, Neuropsychology, and Rehabilitation Medicine dedicated to aphasia rehabilitation”.

On the second day of the conference (15th December) I will be presenting a poster (marked P223), on the topic ”Online re-negotiation of identity in post-stroke aphasia”. I have interviewed nine individuals, observed their online communication and analysed the material based on social semiotics and Goffman’s theory of stigma, trying to find out how they manage their stigma and re-negotiate their identity.

I am really looking forward to the conference! The programme is very interesting, and I hope to meet a lot of inspiring people from all around the globe. IARC, see you soon!

Stay tuned: follow the IARC conference on Twitter (@IARC2016)!

iarcwebb

Delaktighet och identitet – förvirring på en högre nivå

På schemat idag: associationsövning kring begreppen ”delaktighet” och ”identitet” med studenter. De får se en mängd olika foton och uppgiften är att diskutera bilderna utifrån delaktighet, deltagande, aktivitet, tillgänglighet, ensamhet, makt och identitet. Vad är egentligen skillnaden mellan delaktighet och deltagande? Är det vilka sammanhang vi är delaktiga i som definierar vår identitet? Och när vi översätter delaktighet till engelskans ”participation” – vad betyder det då? Som vanligt räknar jag med att förvirringen kommer vara större när vi slutar än den var när vi började…