Designing Space for Interaction and Recognition of Nonverbal Personhood

This paper presents the design, application, and results of experience-centered design sessions (ECD) involving nonverbal persons with dementia (PwD) and persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PwPIMD). This study is part of a larger interdisciplinary project dedicated to understanding the personhood of these persons within contexts of care and living. This study is grounded in the belief that sensory experiences and interactions can render their personhood visible, tangible, and accessible. With three participants from each group in six different care facilities, ECD sessions spanned four consecutive days. During these sessions, various tools aimed at providing sensory stimuli were introduced to the participants. These sessions were recorded and later analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The reactions, interactions, actions, or the lack thereof, with or without these designed tools, provided insights into which tools and approaches effectively rendered nonverbal personhood visible, tangible, and accessible. Additionally, this study also considers the already existing sensory stimuli within their care setting, which were also observed and included in the analysis. Through these ECD sessions, a metaphorical space was created between the participant, designer-researcher, other actors, and tools present in these facilities. This paper not only explores the immediate and latent results of these sessions on the nonverbal participants but also considers the impact on other actors present within these facilities during the sessions. The paper concludes by providing recommendations to design for nonverbal personhood for designer-researchers working with nonverbal persons in care, while also highlighting ways to include them into research to create new avenues for understanding, recognition, and inclusion.