Potentials and challenges in interactive and musical collaborations involving children with disparate disabilities. A comparison study of how Petronella, with Down syndrome, and Dylan, with autism, interact with the musical and interactive tangible ‘WAVE’

Abstract

In this article, the point of departure is the testing of the CCTs known as the WAVE in 2012, which offers many cross-media possibilities for interaction and was developed on the basis of the ORFI evaluation the year before. To respond to some of the requests that emerged during the ORFI actions, the WAVE designers built in a microphone and a camera. This article focuses on these new elements via the experiences of two children with disparate disabilities, an active girl named ‘Petronella’ who loves the microphone and a more passive boy named ‘Dylan’ who loves the camera. This study’s data collection includes a video analysis triangulated with a focus interview conducted with a group of professional experts to elicit their observations regarding the video footage. The research question is as follows: Why do the two children relate so differently to the same musical and interactive CCT, and what would facilitate the most meaningful and health-promoting co-creation experience for each of them? The article will start out with a short introduction to the RHYME project and the WAVE. I will then define co-creation, one of the core concepts in RHYME as well as this study, and introduce the two subject children. Before I present the video analysis, I will discuss methods of video analysis more generally. I will also begin to incorporate comments from the interview with the experts.