Research WITH children with visual impairments : Analysing children's roles and adult positioning in the participatory design of multisensory educational tools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5077/journals/rihv.2026.e2560Keywords:
Participatory research, Participatory design, Children with visual impairments, Multisensory educationnal tools, EmotionsAbstract
This article analyses a participatory design process conducted with visually impaired children to develop a multisensory educational tool about emotions. It examines the roles children assumed throughout the design process, the methods used to elicit their perspectives, and the transformations of the tool during the workshops. The findings show that children successively occupied different participatory positions, ranging from users to informants depending on the project stage. Their contributions led to the abandonment of some initial design assumptions, the transformation of several activities, and changes in the role of others within the final version of the tool. The study also highlights that the quality of participatory design depends on appropriate material, methodological, and relational conditions, as well as on adult positioning. Adults' openness to children's proposals emerged as a key condition for meaningful co-construction.
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