Key considerations when interviewing individuals with expressive language difficulties

Abstract

Qualitative research comes with its fair share of challenges; however, those challenges are often amplified when interviewing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A research project, Friendly Housemates, was conducted where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were matched with post-secondary students to live together as housemates. Drawing on experience gleaned from interviews conducted for the study and earlier research, recommendations are made for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data from participants who are quiet or have expressive language difficulties. These practices will help to ensure that the voices that are so often relegated to the fringes are brought to the disability research discourse.