Main Content

"TOLL - Magazin für Wundertage"

Term: 08/2013 to 09/2015

 Project management and coordination: AP Dr phil.  Hendrik Trescher

 Associates/Partners: Nadine Schallenkammer, Dipl.-Ped. (graduate degree in education); Michael Borner, BA; Sylvia Heinlein (TOLL Editor-in-Chief)

Research assistant(s): Stefanie Schneider, BA and Dominique Blumberg, BA

Financing: Institute for Special Needs Education, Goethe University Frankfurt

Project description:

The aim was to create a print and online magazine by and with people with 'mental disabilities' in order to break down existing barriers to discourse participation.  Based on the assumption that the public image of 'mental disability' is still strongly influenced by traditional views and prejudices, where 'mental disability' is primarily defined as a pathological deviation from a social norm, the research project looked for ways and possibilities of breaking with these traditions in thought.  The objective was to monitor and evaluate the magazine "TOLL - Magazin für Wundertage" (http://www.toll-magazin.de/).  Through its permanent establishment, the guiding intention was to create a mouthpiece or a part of the discourse for people with "mental disabilities" and to open up a space for self-representation with an editorial team that is predominantly made up of people with cognitive impairments.  Employing a multi-layered, multi-method research setting, a qualitative as well as a quantitative impact study of the magazine was conducted to discuss its full potential.  Subsequently, expert interviews were conducted with media professionals and people with mental disabilities in order to evaluate the potential of self-representation and assess the impact of the magazine on the group of people represented.