Enhancing Description and Interpretation of Qualitative Interviews With People With Intellectual Disabilities Through Nonverbal and Paraverbal Data Collection and Analysis
Write down gestures, facial cues, and voice tone during interviews with clients who have intellectual disabilities to capture what words leave out.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Harper et al. (2026) interviewed adults with intellectual disabilities. They wrote down not just words, but also gestures, facial expressions, and voice tone.
The team wanted to know if these extra notes changed what the data meant.
What they found
Adding body language and voice pitch gave a fuller picture. Sometimes the notes matched the spoken words. Other times they added new meaning.
The study shows richer transcripts help us understand what clients truly feel.
How this fits with other research
Weiss et al. (2001) already showed that trained staff can read mood in non-verbal adults. Harper’s work builds on this by showing how to record those cues in everyday interviews.
Dammeyer et al. (2013) used motion-capture cameras to track tiny body shifts in a non-verbal boy. Harper proves you can get similar detail with simple pen-and-paper notes, no lab gear needed.
DiStefano et al. (2020) warn that standard tests often floor-out for severe ID. Harper answers by giving a low-tech way to keep assessment rich and valid.
Why it matters
Next time you interview a client with limited speech, turn on your camera or ask a second staff to jot gestures and voice rises. These notes can confirm or even change your take-away from the talk. You will miss fewer signs of stress, joy, or disagreement, and your treatment plan will fit the real person, not just the words you heard.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Qualitative research involving interviews typically includes transcribing verbal data. However, insights about meaning can also be ascertained from nonverbal and paraverbal communications. Transcribing nonverbal data allows researchers to include and analyze this additional data whilst ensuring participants' confidentiality. Six participants with intellectual disabilities were interviewed using Talking Mats as a communication tool to support data collection. The verbal, nonverbal, and paraverbal data were transcribed using a notation system and analysed using triangulation. Most of the nonverbal communications corroborated the spoken word; however, nonverbal and paraverbal communication also captured additional information, which added depth, shared understanding, and expanded the insights into the research process or refuted the spoken word, which in turn provided new insights. This paper presents a method to analyse verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal data to provide depth and new or more accurate meaning and highlights benefits of including nonverbal communication in research.
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2026 · doi:10.1111/jar.70183