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What are friends for
- Authors:
- HESLOP Pauline, WILLIAMS Val, HOADLEY Sally
- Journal article citation:
- Young Minds Magazine, 77, July 2005, pp.16-17.
- Publisher:
- YoungMinds
Young people with both mental health problems and learning disabilities are commonly regarded as doubly disadvantaged. This article reports on a project called Mind the Gap aimed at improving the emotional resilience and mental health support for young people who fall into this category. The project, a collaborative venture at the Norah Fry Research Centre at the University of Bristol carried out from 2002 to 2004, led to the development of the course The Strongest Link. The Strongest Link is run by and for young people with learning disabilities in Somerset. It is directed to prepare the participants for adulthood by encouraging open emotional expression and by getting them to think of ways that they could get help for themselves.
More researching together: the role of nondisabled researchers in working with People First members
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS Val, SIMONS Ken
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(1), March 2005, pp.6-14.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The author described the process by which a team of People First researchers and myself worked together on a small-scale project in Bristol. The project was started by self advocates, and followed their own ideas, although they had support. Walmsley refers to it as a 'team approach, rather than one where the people with learning disabilities are in charge', admitting that the title 'Researching Together' led her to this conclusion. My basic aim in writing this sequel, then, is to consider the notion of 'together'. Is the equation of togetherness about equal roles, or does it automatically imply that one partner is more powerful than the others? This is a practice paper, which offers some analysis of our own experiences in a large-scale, funded research project, in which the self advocates had paid employment as researchers. All members of the team can contribute to this kind of reflexivity. The article concludes that inclusive research is something new, with its own hallmarks and styles. The research supporter has to remain aware of the potential power in her own role, and to be prepared to divest herself of that power and to step back, so that People First members take control of the process of research.
Meet the parents
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS Val, MASON Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 13.10.05, 2005, pp.38-39.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
This article highlights the emotional needs of parents of young people with learning difficulties. One of the strands in Mind the Gap, as an action research study, was the development of an approach to apply person-centred approaches to the needs of parents themselves. Co-led by a parent facilitator, this study demonstrated how important it is for parents to regain a sense of their own identity in order to be strong enough to support their child.