‘I Am’ Digital Stories as a Praxeological Methodology for Supporting the Voices and Transitions of Autistic Children

‘I am’ Digital Stories are short, 3-5 minute videos that are co-constructed with autistic children and families to provide a more holistic, strengths-based representation of them in support of transitions within or between schools. These Stories provide counter-narratives to the often deficit-focused accounts that accompany children through their school life and are intended to help to introduce who the child really is beyond paper-based descriptions of their needs and difficulties. Inspired by Lambert’s digital storytelling tradition, the ‘I am’ Digital Stories methodology has been developed to support the diversity of voices of autistic people to be heard including those who may be ‘unvoiced and differently voiced’. As an arts-based method within a participatory research approach, the ‘I am’ Digital Stories take a strengths-based stance towards supporting understanding and awareness of children beyond the labels of difference that are attached to them. While there has been more research in health-oriented spheres that uses digital storytelling methods, there has been less within education and specifically in co-construction with autistic children and young people. A recent review of the digital storytelling literature published in this journal concluded that there is a lack of detail and description of the theories, frameworks and models that underpin research applying this method, and a lack of consideration of ethical issues. Our paper seeks to provide detail on these aspects with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of the evidence base in this area. Specifically, we frame ‘I am’ Digital Stories as a praxeological methodology that includes consideration of power redistribution, reflection and action with others, values and ethics, non-orthodox methods, and pathway to impact. We conclude that the ‘I am’ Digital Stories methodology is powerful for sharing autistic ways of knowing about the world that actively tackle marginalisation.