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'I won't think of meself as a learning disability. But I have': social identity and self-advocacy
- Author:
- BEART Suzie
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(3), September 2005, pp.128-131.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
In this paper the small body of research which looks at how people labelled as having learning disabilities view this social identity is considered. The author argues that this research has implications for our assumptions about self-advocacy groups for people with learning disabilities.
Writing it ourselves
- Authors:
- WYRE FOREST SELF ADVOCACY, TARLETON Beth
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(2), June 2005, pp.65-69.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Describes how a group of self advocates wrote a book for young people with learning disabilities, discussing each stage of the writing and development process. The book is entitled 'Active Advocates' and is about how to set up a self advocacy group for young people with learning disabilities. Its aim is to show that people with learning disabilities can make easy information for other people with the same condition. It also shows how making information helped the self advocates develop skills, how proud it made them feel and much it was considered important for people with learning disabilities to be involved in making 'easy information'.
Putting advocacy on the map
- Author:
- -
- Journal article citation:
- Viewpoint, March 2005, p.24.
- Publisher:
- Mencap/Gateway
Reports on 'The Map Squad', a member-led advocacy project in Tower Hamlets which is helping people set up new projects. The group is represented on the local Learning Disability Partnership Board, has written a plan on modernising day services and is currently setting up a resources library.
Real power? An examination of the involvement of people with learning difficulties in strategic development in Cambridgeshire
- Authors:
- DEARDEN-PHILLIPS Craig, FOUNTAIN Rob
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(4), December 2005, pp.200-204.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Securing meaningful involvement in service development and provision can be seen as a particular challenge for people with learning difficulties. This paper is written from the perspective of Speaking Up – a voluntary organisation that has developed the 'Parliament' model to give people with learning difficulties a strong collective voice. Through self-advocacy taking the leading role in shaping the way people with learning difficulties and statutory providers communicate, it is argued that the Parliament model enables people with learning difficulties to genuinely influence services. After considering the link between self-advocacy and user-involvement, this paper describes the Parliament as it has developed in Cambridgeshire and discusses whether what has been achieved represents a real increase in power for people with learning difficulties. It concludes with a short assessment of the potential for replicability of the Parliament as a model for other areas of the UK.
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.