Phenomenology and Idhe

So I have to admit that when we first started talking about Idhe, I was completely confused and lost...but it is actually kind of interesting how these concepts can be applied to our lives and more importantly our research projects.

I have decided to write my research paper on a technology used for children with disabilities and more specifically cerebral palsy. This technology is called a Dynavox. It is actually a computer with a touch screen that can be attached to the side of a wheelchair for the person to use. The person can use buttons to scan through options on the screen as it reads them back to them. The person can then choose what they want to say and the computer will say it in sentence form in order to communicate.

Idhe can be applied to this technology in both embodiment and hermeneutic relations. First, it can be embodiment becuase the person is experiencing the world through the machine. We (the therapists, teachers, parents, etc) can change what the computer says and the different situations that the person might come across and need to communicate something. As we talked about the blind man with his cane, the Dynavox is like a cane to someone who can't speak.

Also, this relation can be hermeneutic in that the child has to learn how to interpret how to use the technology. They also have to adjust every time something is added or changed on the dynavox. Therefore the person is having an experience of the machine in order to use it.

These are just a few of my ideas. Let me know what you think and whether Im understanding this correctly. :)