Rethinking the contributions of young people with learning disabilities to iPad storymaking: a new model of distributed authorship

Digital technologies such as iPads are now ubiquitous
in classrooms and family homes, enabling new possibilities for all learners but particularly for those with
disabilities. Existing literature explores how children
with learning disabilities create and benefit from
personalised digital stories but does not unpack theoretical understandings of their ‘authorship’. This paper
addresses this gap by proposing an original model of
‘distributed authorship’ with three axes of distribution—interpersonal, technological and temporal—to
account for the authorial contributions of young people with learning disabilities. Five families were given
an iPad with Pictello storymaking app and instructed
to use it with their young person in any way which
was engaging for them. Data generation over 12 weeks
included weekly diaries, home videos, semi-structured
interviews and story collection. Findings indicated that
whilst ability to directly engage with the app varied,
all the young people could be said to exert authorial
influence on the stories distributed across three axes:
support from others, support from the technology
itself and incorporation of prior embodied agency.
The study has theoretical implications for our understanding of ‘authorship’ as well as implications for
pedagogy and practice by reconceptualising severely
disabled children as literate learners and co-authors.