Abstract
This thesis is an ethnographic study of two specialist settings in England, where young children's communication and 'communication difficulties' were objects of expert intervention. It describes the intertwining of institutional discourses and practices, which both construct and sustain current, dominant understandings of good and normal communication. Instead of delineating 'communication difficulty' as a matter of disability or individual tragedy, this thesis focuses on the 'socialness' of face-to-face communication. It deconstructs the discourse of communication as a skill, right and need in disability childhood contexts, and the somewhat taken-for-granted importance of communication skills in today's everyday life. On the basis of my findings, this thesis promotes an understanding of communication as a complex, contextual phenomenon, and aspects of 'communication difficulties' as social constructions.