Premium
Having a Voice: Involving People with Learning Difficulties in Research
Author(s) -
Minkes John,
Townsley Ruth,
Weston Clive,
Williams Chris,
Tyrell Jan
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1995.tb00173.x
Subject(s) - theme (computing) , set (abstract data type) , learning disability , sociology , psychology , pedagogy , process (computing) , work (physics) , engineering ethics , public relations , political science , computer science , developmental psychology , engineering , mechanical engineering , programming language , operating system
This article summarises a symposium presented at the 1993 BILD conference by researchers based at the Norah Fry Research Centre, University of Bristol. The linking theme of the several contributions to the symposium was the need to involve people with learning difficulties in research. The article argues that a traditional model of research, in which detached observers set the agenda and present the results to their funders and academic colleagues, should not be seen as the only acceptable approach to research. This article advocates involving people with learning difficulties at every stage of the research process. The article then describes several pieces of work, carried out by or with the support of staff at Norah Fry, which illustrate the Centre's attempts to put this principle into practice. It is argued that the end result is better research, which is of more direct benefit to people with learning difficulties.