2. Research in the field has been going on to various directions for more than 30 years. “We had to learn signed supported speech in order to communicate with the child. Julie’s mother expresses her frustration: Neither the hospital nor the resource centers should express their views so strongly on what is the right thing to do after the operation, where signing is concerned. The joint activity is undertaken to accumulate the common ground of the participants. S. All 27 parental accounts touch upon various experiences with the discourse on communication modality, in different ways. The study reported in this article explores the discourse on communication modality and is based on 27 written parental accounts on experiences with follow-up. S. The different opinions regarding “what’s best” put parents in a challenging position and some express that they have felt caught between the two options: The conflict between the sign language milieu and the spoken language milieu was destructive and we could in fact not trust the information we got from the professionals. Lutman Not least they are heard in the voices of the parents who say they know what is best for their child, but who do not find acknowledgment for their choice in any way. "Discourse is the way in which language is used socially to convey broad historical meanings. The analysis of the empirical data follows a qualitative discourse analytical approach, anchored in Foucauldian perspectives (Alvesson & Skjöldberg, 2009; Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell, Taylor, & Yates, 2001). In their narratives however, the discursive power is expressed in the way that parents legitimize their choice of communication modality, spontaneously. Falkenberg It brings to the fore how the follow-up which is intended to be helpful for parents can induce insecurity and frustration. The parental quotes were translated by the researchers in the final phase when the quotes were written into the English manuscript; this has been conducted with the utmost care in order to preserve meaning across languages. Right hemisphere damage (RHD; also known as “right hemisphere disorder” and “right hemisphere brain damage”) is an acquired brain injury—usually secondary to stroke or TBI—that causes impairments in language and other cognitive domains that affect … 1.1 What is Discourse? It is this particular understanding of subjugated knowledges which is used in this study. “It certainly did influence us to not opt for sign language. In line with the Foucauldian framework all parents’ narratives show involvement in the discourse as it appears in the analysis, to various degrees. In Norway, receiving cochlear implants is free of charge, including subsequent after-care and follow-up. M. These notions are “Discourses of truth,” “The power of the Norm,” and “Subjugated knowledges” (Foucault, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982). Language can never be 'neutral' because it bridges our personal and social worlds," (Henry and Tator 2002). O. In summary, the parents’ narratives express the notion of “subjugated knowledges” (Foucault, 1980) which is described as the knowledges that are dominated, defeated, and subdued. David W. Smit (2004) noted that discourse communities are defined by what they have in common, "what they share, when they use certain kinds of language" (p. 86). is that discourse is (uncountable) expression in words, either speech or writing while communication is (uncountable) the concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities. “The fact that some are of the opinion that certain choices are better and more ‘right’ than others and shout this very loudly, is something which burdens those who have to make the actual choices” (parents of Oscar, age 4). In addition, some writers have conceived of discourse as related to particular topics, such as an environmental discourse or colonial discourse...Such labels sometimes suggest a particular attitude towards a topic (e.g. You are probably sitting in your seat, reading this and thinking, so maybe just putting your head down while reading would be easier. Holt Creating and maintaining a positive work environment is what contributes to effective workplace communication. In these expressions, to not “need” SSS (anymore) seems to be regarded as a step towards “normality.” “We do use some signed supported speech, but less and less” (mother of Leon, age 5). It integrates findings from linguistics, cognitive and social psychology, speech communication, micro-sociology, and ethnography. *Correspondence should be sent to Marieke Bruin, Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Education and Sports Science, University of Stavanger, N-4036 Stavanger, Norway (e-mail: Search for other works by this author on: Rethinking inclusive education. These professional service providers can be, for instance, the hospital that provides the implant (Rikshospitalet), the Norwegian special needs educational system (Statped), or professionals like audiologists, speech and language therapists, special needs educators or psychologists connected to other counseling services, for instance in schools, preschools or Norwegian local government offices. Foucault refers to them as “a popular knowledge (le savoir des gents) […] a particular, local, regional knowledge” (p. 82). And I think that attitude bears witness to the fact that they have no clue about what everyday life is like for us!” (mother of Julie, age 9). These examples may express the notion of the subjugated knowledges in the sense that it is the perceived dominant power structure in the discourse on communication modality which makes the parents explain. The parents’ narratives show that through its inherent truth, the normalizing judgment induces values such as “normality” and “success.” The extraordinary focus on normality is reported in earlier research (Kluwin & Stewart, 2000; Sach & Whynes, 2005). “We had been expecting to be strongly influenced to choose a certain communication modality, we had for instance heard that the hospital was strongly against sign language BUT we have experienced nothing of the sort” (mother of Michelle, age 5—original emphasis). Of the 27 families, 26 have 1 child with CI and 1 family has 2 children with CI. It was very hard […] Especially because they do not accept each other’s point of view […] We experienced this solely as a tug of war between different professionals where none of them exercised any particular self-criticism worth mentioning. We felt that we only had ourselves to rely on and that we didn’t have either the competence or the knowledge that was needed to help our child to get what she needed further in life. The parents make divergent choices regarding communication modality (see also Table 1). communication, with an understanding of how features of current CMC technologies affect interpersonal communication, and with the knowledge they need to help design new communications technologies. S. J “We were anxious that he would not get enough help and support if we did not choose sign language as his first language at school” (father of Ronny, age 12). 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