Developing empowering research practices with people who have learning disabilities

In this paper we report an exploratory attempt to design a practice that facilitates the extent to which ‘researched‐upon’ and ‘researcher‐on’ can be cooperatively involved in the planning, data collection and interpretation of research in the field of learning disability and community living. The informants were four people with learning disabilities who had been residents of long‐stay mental hospitals but, at the time of the study, had all been living in the community for at least 1 year. After an extended period of informal familiarization, the research had three main phases. The first phase consisted of five individual, non‐directive, depth interviews over a 2‐month period. The second phase consisted of a meeting in which each participant became a paid co‐researcher involved in the design and planning of the next phase of the research. The third phase consisted of three 1‐hour guided neighbourhood tours led by the participants who had become co‐researchers. Over the course of the three phases, the role of the researcher gradually became more a ‘newcomer‐learner’ as he adopted the role of co‐researcher and the role of participants with learning disabilities gradually became more ‘expert‐teachers’ as they adopted the role of co‐researchers. As the research progressed, the balance of power shifted, although modestly, in favour of those with learning disabilities. This led to an improvement in the quality and effectiveness of communication and understanding and an increase in the satisfaction with and enjoyment of the research process for all those involved. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.