RESEARCH_0001.3
ACTION

Clinically, the research interventions have pursued goals to increase Professor Chioffi’s ability to communicate efficiently and effectively; minimize communication breakdowns; increase the  level of student engagement in classroom discussion; and increase student mastery of content and promote use of multimodal communication tools by all interactants and not only Professor Chioffi. Specific interventions have included the use of classroom layout and spatial arrangement for enhancing multimodal techniques and strategies using existing low and high technologies options and the development of compensatory tools for specific issues (i.e., “spelling-dictionaries”).

Recognition of the persuasive use of both linguistic and visual forms of metaphor and metonymy have led to the development of explicit lectures and class exercies on these topics within the classroom contributing to higher levels of student engagement in critiques and discussions; higher quality of student work and, per Mr Chioffi, a subjective report of less effortful, more fluent verbal output following the metaphor and metonymy lectures. Potential for developing interdisciplinary approaches to design-based interventions (e.g., disability focused, conceptually designed-oriented subspecialty within the expanding field of graphic design and its visual languages). An illustrative moment which highlights the potential in this research is found in the following observation summarized below.

The communication efforts of many persons with speech disabilities often fail unknown due to the unrelenting current of typical conversation where spoken language is privileged— and the frequent social stigma of interacting with persons of disabilities. Analogous to the theoretical physicist attempting to prove the existence of a short-lived, unstable subatomic particle, our efforts to “design in disability” through multimodal communication tools included having persons both with and without speech disabilities engage in multimodal conversations around artifacts which we designed and implemented in the course of our research.

POSSIBILITIES

​This interaction employed various multimodal artifacts, strategies and practices that had been developed and deployed up until that time. This episode occurred within student interactions during a Master Class by visiting artist Lesley Dill. While Professor Chioffi and Ms. Dill were collectively providing bench critiques, all of the participants in this conversation engaged in a multimodal discussion, using his iPad loaded with multimodal communication tools. During this time, Professor Chioffi and all other participants, readily engaged in a fluid and productive manner without the interruptions or dialogue breakdowns resulting within a predominantly spoken interaction.

The reason why this is analogous to a subatomic particle is the invisible shifts back to privileged spoken interactions make communication ‘unstable’ for those with speech disabilities.
​What we demonstrated, like the short-lived subatomic particle, was  that it is possible to cultivate extended periods of multimodal discourse including both those with and without speech disorders as equal contributors. Increasing the versatility of such multimodal tools with the goal of enabling persons with disabilities to engage in multiple valued life activities from which they may have receded remains a future goal.

​

​

VISUALIZATIONS

Metaphor, Metonymy and Visual Multimodally Mediated Interactions​​
A virtual peer-reviewed presentation on current research of the modality project {dot} design for the 14th International Conference on the Arts in Society​ at the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal. 19–21 June 2019.
​