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See What I Mean: Interpreting the Meaning of Communication by People with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disabilities
Author(s) -
Grove Nicola,
Bunning Karen,
Porter Jill,
Olsson Cecilia
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3148.1999.tb00076.x
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , psychology , categorical variable , interpretation (philosophy) , social psychology , intellectual disability , process (computing) , inference , epistemology , linguistics , psychotherapist , computer science , philosophy , machine learning , psychiatry , operating system
In a social and political climate which encourages active participation in decision‐making by people who have severe and profound intellectual disabilities, the onus is often on practitioners, carers and advocates to represent the wishes and interests of individuals. The issue of the validity of their interpretations is then foregrounded. This paper discusses theoretical issues associated with the development of guidelines to support a process of validation. It is argued that meaning should be viewed as the negotiated outcome of interactions, always involving inference. Validity of interpretation is thus a continuous rather than a categorical variable, and needs to be supported by the systematic collection of evidence from a range of sources. This framework is compatible with a social constructivist view of communicative development, and allows for information derived from subjective, intuitive insights to be combined with information obtained through observation and testing.