To move ahead - the extension of a life-world

Sammanfattning: This licentiate thesis is a monography complemented with one published article: “Interactive Design – the desire for autonomous upright mobility: A longitudinal case study, Technology and Disability 19 (2007) 213-224”. My hope is that the combination of the monographic part (with its phenomenological tone, personified and situated), and the more unbarked “Technology and Disability” article (with its orientation towards the general rather than the personal aspects) will contribute to dialogues on different scientifical approaches. The overall purpose of this thesis is to develop new knowledge on child development under the conditions of SMA II. As I use a life-world phenomenological approach my first quest is to highlight and make explicit what appeared in Hanna’s life-world and how these experiences have contributed to her overall development. I also want to put forward how Hanna’s motility and mobility were supported, guided by what she expressed and strived for, in order to promote a healthy physical, psychological and social development. A special focus is on independent locomotion and how this was accomplished for Hanna. By using technology in a new way it was possible to enhance Hanna’s access to the world through the medium of her lived body, thus changing her life-world by widening her life-world horizon. The second quest of this licentiate thesis is to make this journey explicit.