The advantages of technology.

Cousins, Jennifer

In My Shoes: A computer assisted interview for communicating with children and vulnerable adults Rachel Calam, Antony Cox, David Glasgow, Phil Jimmieson and Sheila Groth Larsen York, Child and Family Training 2005 (Available via training course only: contact liza.miller@btinternet.com)

Computers offer new possibilities for assessment and therapy. In My Shoes is a child-friendly, interactive programme that enables worker and child to explore together important events, circumstances and relationships in the child's life. It can be used in discussing life story material, and for helping a young person to express wishes and feelings. Where sensitive information has been disclosed, this has been robust enough for court purposes, both in care proceedings and abuse cases. It has proved capable of helping children to share information in ways that could not be achieved through conventional interview methods, particularly adults and young people where language and conceptual thought is, for whatever reason, limited. The development of In My Shoes was funded by the Department of Health, the Department for Education and Skills, the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester and the Instone Trust, and has a sound research base.

The programme, organised in a series of modules, provides a structured interview with lively scenes covering everyday domestic, school and other situations. These invite the child to identify people, settings and somatic experiences, and to choose associated feelings--mainly through clicking a mouse and adding faces which express a wide choice of emotions. The scene is then ripe for discussion, the computer screen providing an unthreatening external focus for worker and child. Importantly, the child's choices in each situation are automatically logged, with the extra facility for either child or worker to record any particularly relevant comments on the way through. The whole programme can be used and saved over several sessions, according to time and concentration constraints. It is suitable broadly for children of three plus, depending upon developmental level.

The range of human figures who feature in the programme embraces a wide variety of minority ethnic communities; and there is a video/voice-over, which communicates in English and Signed Spoken English and Irish Sign Language. More languages, including Makaton, could be added.

The use of In My Shoes is restricted to practitioners who have attended a two-day training course based on an action-learning approach. Between the two sessions, trainees practise the new skills and provide evidence of competence in the field with three children. Existing skills and experience in direct work with children are clearly necessary to maximise the benefits of the programme, and the training includes what will for many professionals be revision in the principles of good interviewing (and good assessment), but none the less valuable for being familiar material. Some extra techniques for computer interviews are highlighted.

In My Shoes is easy to navigate after some practice, though any technique must be second nature if full attention is to be given to the child. I found certain aspects slightly inflexible (technically) though when I observed a fellow trainee using the programme with a ten-year-old looked after child who has some learning difficulties, the potential for it, despite these minor drawbacks, was evident. My session with a very able seven-year-old held his attention for an hour.

Feedback from other practitioners in the training group (mainly educational psychologists and social workers) was mostly very positive. Workers said it had proved useful for a range of children, even if the child was well known to them; that it felt good to be able to sit physically close to a child while engaged in a joint task; that new issues--for example, bullying--were revealed for the first time and could be examined; that discussion about difficult emotions was somehow 'freed up' because of the neutral environment of sitting at the computer; that children were delighted to be the technical experts who helped the worker and had some control over the process; and that some children were able, for the first time, to label their emotions. All these seemed to be evident benefits. Some workers were surprised at how powerful the children's feelings seemed to be.

In My Shoes would be a very useful tool for any direct work with young children or with young people who have learning difficulties or communication impairments. I understand that feedback from training participants will contribute to its ongoing development and iron out some minor technical irritations. The training process and materials are of a good standard, and the supporting handbook which reinforces the computer programme is extremely helpful.

Jennifer Cousins is Disability Consultant, BAAF