Ally Keane
Ally Keane is a History PhD student. Ally's project is entitled 'Giving Voice to Experience: A Users’ History of Augmentative and Alternative Communication.'
Project Title
Giving Voice to Experience: A Users’ History of Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Academic Supervisors
- Dr Vicky Long
- Prof Graham Smith
- Dr Coreen McGuire (Durham University)
Contact
Project Description
My research explores the history of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and services through gathering user experiences. I have conducted oral history interviews with AAC users (and one communication partner) and surveys to gain insights into their experiences. Life-story interviews were completed to gain insights into the experiences of AAC users with congenital conditions from childhood to the present day, and into the experiences of becoming an AAC user in later life for those with acquired conditions.
This work has added to the existing methodology of oral history, generating new ways to capture similar insights (such as emotion or tone) from those whose speech is often mediated through technology or another person. The research will also contribute to the growing field of disability history and wider medical history, where AAC users’ experiences have been neglected.
Publications
- Keane, A., and J. Kocsis. “Missing Methods and Epistemic Injustice: A scoping review of qualitative research with AAC users.” Disability & Society 40:9 (2025): 2564–87.
- Keane, A. “‘It became a symbol of my incapacity and I hated it’: Resistance to High-Technology Augmentative and Alternative Communication, c. 1980-2020.” Pons Aelius 17 (2025): 74-92.
- Keane, A. “Experiences of High-Technology Voices by Augmentative and Alternative Communication Users, c. 1980 to 2020.” Pons Aelius 16 (2024): 47-59.
- Metcalf, M., A. Pearson, and A. Keane. “‘Not a minute on the day, not a penny off the pay” The 1926 Miners’ Lock Out and General Strike.” https://www.learnwithunite.org/assets/Uploads/Lock-Out-GS-Booklet-v2.pdf