Hear Me Shout
Shannon Kraemer
Disabled children face daily challenges that are difficult to understand when not experienced firsthand. Hear Me Shout places viewers into the mindset of a young, disabled girl named Keira who cannot talk due to a speech impediment called apraxia.
In this interactive, four-minute-long virtual reality (VR) story, audience members observe the social problems that arise when society relies on technology to ease the hardships of disabled youth. By placing Keira’s everyday reality into the isolating medium of VR, the audience gains empathy for nonverbal children as they experience the harsh contrast between the fun, imaginary play that every child deserves to enjoy, and the difficulty of simply communicating with others. By the end of the experience, the audience leaves with an understanding of what can be done to help disabled children’s voices to be heard.
