Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Human beings need connection. The pandemic required us to adapt the way we form connection, particularly in online forums. For disabled youth, the pandemic has increased online access to arts, culture, and educational spaces fostering more inclusive communities. This paper describes a research project that explored disabled youth’s experiences as they transitioned into adulthood through online digital storytelling workshops. Over a period of 12 months, disabled youth created short films about their experiences with life transitions related to education, employment, community living. An unexpected outcome of this study was the quality of social connections that formed within these online workshops. The research study integrated a participatory-informed model where individuals who completed peer-facilitator training subsequently co-facilitated future workshops. While the focus of the study was on accessibility within a (re)imagined digital storytelling model, a community was formed consisting of facilitators, participants, and co-facilitators resulting in continued connections outside of the online workshop platform. Findings indicated that co-facilitators strengthened their relationships with both facilitators and participants in this process. This paper includes an overview, the research design, and key findings with a particular focus on learnings related to fostering online connections through purposeful processes and activities aimed at fostering connection and community building. A digital story is shared along with considerations that center social connection when facilitating digital storytelling workshops.

Presenters

Mihaela Slabe
Student, Master of Social Work Student, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Kathleen Sitter
Canada Research Chair in Multisensory Storytelling in Research and Knowledge Translation, Associate Professor, Social Work, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada