‘No research about us without us’

People with a learning disability are often excluded from research and not enough is done to support people with learning disability to understand and take part in research.

What did the project want to do?

The project wanted to examine the barriers that stop research from including people with a learning disability. 

This video tells you more about the aims of the project:

Films produced by CFergusonMedia

This easy-read application summary below tells you everything that the study said it would do when it applied for funding.

The team also made this poster about the project that was shared at the Seattle Club Conference in December 2023.

Who was part of the project?

The project was made up of 25 people including:

  • Self-advocates with a learning disability
  • Support workers
  • National learning disability organisations (including Learning Disability England)
  • Accessible communication experts
  • Professional researchers
  • The National Health Service  

It was led by two people:

Dr. Amy M. Russell

Researcher from the
University of Leeds

Gary Bourlet

Membership and Engagement Lead at Learning Disability England

This image above shows where the rest of the team is based in the country

What did the research find out?

As one of the first stages of the research, the team wanted to look through the written evidence of what was happening in other research about inclusion.

Researchers from The University of Warwick and Aston University had done some research they found interesting.

They found there was no accessible version of this research, so they decided to make this easy read.

The project video below tells you all about what the research found and how it went.

Films produced by CFergusonMedia

The team also made this video, with top tips to help other people carry out inclusive research.

Films produced by CFergusonMedia

To find out more about the project you can email Gary or Amy:

a.m.russell@leeds.ac.uk

gary.bourlet@ldengland.org.uk