Presentation at the 16th Biennal ISAAC Conference in Lisbon, July 21 2014 1 Shared experiences through online photo diaries Bitte Rydeman & Per‐Olof Hedvall In the described project, a platform for online photo diaries for children and adults with developmental disabilities was developed and tried through an iterative, collaborative process (Gulliksen & Göransson, 2002). The project took its departure in the knowledge that individuals who use AAC often find it difficult to tell cohesive stories about their experiences (Reiter et al., 2009), a problem they share with many speaking children with developmental disabilities. Another point of departure was the digital divide between people with and without intellectual disabilities when it comes to cellphone and internet use (Stock et al., 2008), a divide that to some extent may be overcome (Davies, Stock & Wehmeyer, 2001). In particular, rich and multiple media, such as photo, video and sound, can help strengthen the links between images and meanings, past and present, and school and home (Bunning, Heath & Minnion, 2008). Storing digital photos from everyday activities have been shown to enhance our memory, help with time management, the sharing of experiences with others and be used for personal reflection (Czerwinski, Gage, Gemmel et al., 2006). Sharing photos online has become an important way of communicating and interacting with others for many people (Khalid & Dix, 2010). Aim: The aim of the three year long project was to create new opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to participate in the modern, digital world and in the storytelling and sharing of experiences from their own lives. Method: The study took its departure in the practices around low‐tech schedules and daily picture diaries in schools for children with developmental disabilities. Ten children and five adults with developmental disabilities, together with their close social networks, took part in the study. The groups were very heterogeneous – some participants used aided and/or unaided AAC while others had fluent speech, but all had difficulties with narration. In the project, photos from their daily lives were regularly uploaded to the participants’ online diaries that were accessed from mobile phones, tablets and/or computers. Semi‐structured interviews and diary use was documented with photo, video, audio and data registration. Results: Photos from activities the participants had been involved in enhanced their memory and their ability to communicate and share experiences with others. They got empowered by having their own camera, and sometimes the camera itself was used for communication. The online diaries were also used for direct communication, but one of their most important roles was to enable distance interaction. Family members and friends from the participants’ close networks, could log in to see what the participants had been doing during the day. This could then result in a written comment from the relative, or maybe a photo from the relative’s day as a greeting. From the relatives perspective, having looked in their child’s diary could help parents to understand what their child was trying to tell them when he or she came home from school, preventing communication breakdowns. The relatives of the adult participants appreciated the opportunities to take part in their lives in this new way. The participants whose relatives and/or close friends interacted with them through their photo diaries, tended to be very encouraged by that and to specifically upload photos to their diary for others to see. The staff at the work center found that helping the clients with their diaries gave them new opportunities to interact and get a moment of sharing with each individual. When they put diary sharing with the whole group on the schedule, this soon became very popular and made the participants more interested in each other and each other’s experiences.