The Snapchat social media platform has been explored as a tool to support expression and engagement between users with aphasia. Even commonplace tools such as social media platforms can present significant barriers. Many digital technologies are challenging for people with aphasia due to their language demands. In the context of digital technologies, the barriers posed by aphasia are clearly evident. This is beautifully demonstrated by the poet Carol Ireland, who has aphasia, and is supported by an editor-a friend who helps Carol to edit her work. Within non-digital creative expression, there is evidence that additional support can help. However, while we can find examples of retained creative self-expression through both visual art and music, it is often the case that creative expression relies on language. With regard to creativity, people with aphasia generally do not experience a change in their intellect and therefore their creativity remains intact. This means that an increasing number of people will lose the language skills that support them in engaging with both creative activities and digital technologies. Aphasia affects approximately one-third of stroke survivors and the number of people living with aphasia is likely to increase in future years, given the increasing number of people in the world living to an age where stroke is more likely. For example, some people might find speaking more challenging than writing or vice versa. Aphasia will often affect more than one of these aspects of language. People with aphasia may experience challenges with reading, writing, speaking, or listening. It is most commonly caused by a stroke that results in damage to the parts of the brain that are responsible for language. 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 Aphasia and Tools for Creativity and Self-ExpressionĪphasia is a language impairment. It differs from in the following ways: the description of the Comic Spin app has been updated, the account of the design process has been reduced, additional results are reported from the first study exploring the effectiveness of Comic Spin and how it was used for self-expression (Section 5), and a second study has been added (Section 6). This article is an expanded and revised version of, originally presented at the ASSETS 2020 conference. These constrained creativity tools offer limited choices and structured processes to enable people with aphasia to engage in creative writing and in the creation of rich multimedia content. The design of Comic Spin drew on the concept of constrained creativity applied previously in other work on creative tools for people with aphasia. The first study looked at short-term use and the second study looked at use over a more sustained period of time. In this article, we report the design of Comic Spin, a comic strip creation tool for people with aphasia, and two studies to explore (a) whether Comic Spin was effective in enabling people with aphasia to create comic strips and (b) how people with aphasia used Comic Spin for self-expression. In this digital age, comic creation tools are a popular option to help address these challenges but have not been designed to be used by people with aphasia. However, creating a comic is not without its challenges. With their highly visual format, comics offer a promising opportunity for people who experience difficulties with language, including people who have aphasia. Comics most obviously afford the expression of humour, but they also enable people to address more serious topics, such as creative responses to dementia care. We set out to explore creative activities involving comics. It has the potential to benefit self-esteem and general mental health.
This “ making as expression” is a particularly powerful tool for those who find communication difficult.
Creative activities can enable people to express themselves and to broach topics that might be challenging or uncomfortable to address with words alone.
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