Experiences with AAC technology and empathy – README
*** Experiences with AAC technology and empathy ***
Author: C.J.M. Bollen
Ethics and Philosophy of Technology Section, Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management, Delft University of Technology
Corresponding author: C.J.M. Bollen
Contact information: c.j.m.bollen@tudelft.nl
***General introduction ***
This dataset contains a summary of collected testimonies of experiences of AAC technology users, as part of Caroline Bollen’s PhD thesis project. It is being made publict to act as supplementary data for publications and the PhD thesis. 
The research was made possible by the research programme Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies, which is funded through the Gravitation programme of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO grant number 024.004.031).
*** Purpose of the research ***
Gain insight in the experiences of users of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) technologies with regards to empathy, at the level of their relationship to the device and societal inclusion. These insigths served to support a theoretical and literature analysis of AAC mediated empathy. 
*** Methodological information ***
The testimonies were collected via SurfDrive or email. The participants responded to a list of 8 questions designed around the theoretical framework developed in the thesis. In total, 5 participants were included in the research, of which 3 responded to all questions. The responses were thematically summarized in the dataset. The dataset includes relevant quotes from participants who consented to their quotes being used in this research anonymously. A more detailed description of the methodology can be found in the accompanying “Method_Experiences with AAC technologies and empathy.pdf” document. 
