Methods

‘Inclusive research’ refers to a process wherein participants with intellectual disabilities are actively involved beyond being observed or interviewed (Walmsley, 2001). Collaborative groups refer to partnerships “in which people with and without disabilities work together have both shared and distinct purposes, which are given similar attention and make contributions that are equally valued. The position of the people with intellectual disability is not privileged in terms of power or control and researchers are not simply there to assist ” (Bigby et al, 2014; p.8.)
Inclusive research addresses the matter of previous lack of control experienced by disabled people (Stevenson 2011) whilst upholding the authenticity of their contributions to the research. Researchers have adapted the concept of spaces such as ‘non accessible’ space (Bigby, Frawley & Ramcharan, 2013), ‘interactive’ space in which new connections and common assumptions can be built (Nind, 2011, p. 356) or as space to ‘air arguments and debate’ (Walmsley & Johnson (2003, p. 15) congruent with the notion of ‘nothing about us without us’ (Charlton, 1998). Bigby, Frawley and Ramcharan (2013) also refer to a space where critical research and development necessary to scaffold inclusion occurs.
We adopted the strength perspective characteristic of the collaborative group approach described by Nind (2011, p. 356) so that ‘data generation and analysis occurred concurrently in conversation and in directed activities’ during a ‘process of dialogue, seeking input and feedback rather than sitting down together to do a task’ (Nind 2011, p. 358.)

Settings

The project piloted interventions in different settings, covering a range of learning situations . Interventions were designed, each time with the purpose of magnifying the micro-interactions taking place, where evidence of shift may be traced from feedback received from the community leaders and participants. The community encounters were planned to benefit from cumulative learning in real time. These encounters gradually increased in scope, ranging from supporting a brand new initiative from the ground up, to early intervention activities, through to designing ongoing encounters:
  1. Inception: We facilitated discussions about launching an artist network designed with integration in mind, in collaboration with the local community arts organisation and artists, involving about 100 participants. These meetings were informal gatherings for the purpose of networking and exchanging information and contacts.
  2. Early intervention steps with small groups of marginalized people: A disabled artist attended a three-day Art’s Trail, mentored by an art teacher to engage with 30 local artists.
  3. Designing open-ended encounters: Starting on a local university campus, these open-ended encounters spanned a month, with over 70 participants joining in participative art.
Though different in scope, these interventions had two core methodological points in common: the way people were approached and the way the data were collected.

Intentional invitations

Abbott and McConkey (2006) noted that an important component of social inclusion is meeting other people in ordinary settings and being treated similarly. These get togethers were planned to facilitate meetings in ordinary settings, as people with disabilities often have few spontaneous occasions to take part in these. An Intentional Invitation is a facilitative mechanism during which we approach a disabled person, explaining that we are organising encounters where everybody is welcome and diversity is valued. We gave some examples of what may happen during the encounter and shared as much information as possible so that the person receiving the invitation could form a good idea of what may happen. At first glance this may seem simplistic, however, experience has shown that for a disabled person, receiving an explicit invitation is an atypical occurrence. The rare invitations they may receive are impersonal invites to exclusive events – i.e. dedicated to disabled people. As noted by Rhodes (2010), intentionality is a core mechanism of social transformation. Some disability services we contacted said they would mention to the people they serve, the possibility of joining in our encounters. However, they offered no transport to get there, arguing that the point of their interventions was to encourage disabled people to participate in community life independently. We worked with people with an Intellectual Disability and people on the Autistic Spectrum, being amongst those responding to the Intentional Invitations .

Data collection: Participant observation and interviews

Our data collection was designed to document the thoughts, attitudes and behaviours that accompany such a collaborative experience. We paid attention to the type of data that would uncover what may enable or hinder attitude and behaviour shifts. Since some of these changes may occur in ‘micro-interactions’, sometimes minute details buried in human exchanges – we filmed participants’ interviews during encounters to include verbal and non-verbal data, using the methodology documented by Büscher (2005).