For young people, digital technologies are an integral part of everyday life. Social media, gaming, and other digital activities across devices seamlessly merge with social relationships and practices. This is equally true for young people living with various forms of physical or cognitive disabilities and impairments. An inclusive society and true citizenship cannot be fully realized without incorporating the digital dimension.
However, research highlights a paradox:
Young people with disabilities use digital technologies similarly to their peers, but there are significant differences in both access to and use of these media. This reveals a digital divide, where some groups of young people with disabilities face difficulties, discrimination, and inequality in their opportunities for digital participation.
Social media can help address practical challenges and strengthen young people's social connections. However, young people with disabilities are also more likely to experience issues such as cyberbullying, financial crime, and problematic or excessive digital habits. There remains limited knowledge about how benefits and risks intersect across different groups of young people with disabilities.
While ‘young people's digital lives’ is generally a well-documented research area, there remains a lack of studies specifically focusing on young people with disabilities. This gap is particularly evident in a Danish context, where research on media and disability is very limited.
With this in mind, we aim to strengthen research in this area and take the first steps toward establishing an interdisciplinary focus on media and disability at Aarhus University (AU).
