Interconnection, Participation and Belonging among Learning Disability Communities

在英国，有学习障碍的人（以下简称PWLD）是一个被边缘化的群体。该博士将专注于学习障碍网络中的社会关系，这已被确定为特别需要进一步研究的领域（Power， Hall等人，2021）。我的论文将通过突出他们在共同创造社区中的积极作用，来探讨残疾人所经历的排斥/包容。政府关于包容残疾人的政策被批评为试图通过基于硬结果的期望（如就业能力和独立生活）使人们“正常化”（Cameron 2005; Hall 2010; Cushing 2015）。尽管有包容政策，但许多残疾人生活在一个“平行世界”中，与非残疾人的社区很接近，但并不共享（Desjardins 2000）。在英国，有一系列由培训和日间中心、共享生活、自我倡导团体、友谊和支持团体创建的学习障碍社区。在当地，成员在这些社区之间移动。我的研究将满足广泛的、特殊的和响应性的包容性概念的必要性。Pamela Cushing认为，有必要制定更加“尊重[残疾人]多样化需求和偏好”的政策和研究（2015:83）。因此，该研究将通过探索残疾人自身如何制定、体验和构思“有意义的包容”，为该领域做出原创性贡献（Oliver and Barnes 2010）。在这项研究中，成员将被视为社区实践者——他们的网络是他们的实践和相关价值观的产物。我将追踪英国的正式和非正式学习障碍网络。将采用定性的、多方法的方法，包括民族志、讲习班和访谈。这项研究的目的是满足从轻度到重度学习障碍人士的交流需求。将密切关注PWLD穿越和共同创建社区的方式。本文将主要考虑这些学习障碍网络在多大程度上以及如何由其社区成员的特定但交叉的参与和归属模式产生。项目的投机元素将邀请PWLD思考他们的社区将成为什么，以及更广泛的社会如何采用他们的实践。本论文将有助于学习障碍社会研究领域，并有可能影响学习障碍社区、社会部门实践和政府政策。特别是，它将有助于：a)理解学习障碍网络；b)以残疾人士为社区从业员；c)了解残疾人如何制定、体验和构思“有意义的包容”，d)对从轻度到重度学习障碍的人进行参与性研究。

People with learning disabilities (hereafter PWLD) are a marginalised group in the UK. This PhD will focus on social relations within learning disability networks, which has been identified as an area in particular need of further study (Power, Hall et al. 2021). My thesis will engage with the exclusion/inclusion experienced by PWLD, by foregrounding their active roles in co-creating their communities. Government policy on the inclusion of PWLD has been criticised as an attempt to 'normalise' people, through expectations based on hard outcomes, such as employability and independent living (Cameron 2005; Hall 2010; Cushing 2015). Despite inclusion policies, many PWLD live in a 'parallel world', in proximity to but not sharing the communities of non-disabled people (Desjardins 2000). In the UK, there are a range of learning disability communities created by: training and day centres, shared living, self-advocacy groups, friendship and support groups. In local areas, members move between these communities. My research will fulfil the imperative for expansive, particular and responsive conceptions of inclusion. Pamela Cushing argues there is need for policy and research that is more 'respectful of [PWLD's] diverse needs and preferences' (2015: 83). As such, the research will provide an original contribution to the field through exploration of how PWLD themselves enact, experience and conceive 'meaningful inclusion' (Oliver and Barnes 2010). In the study members will be viewed as community practitioners - and their networks as a product of their practices and associated values. I will trace formal and informal learning disability networks in the UK. There will be a qualitative, multimethod approach, involving ethnography, workshops and interviews. The research will be designed to respond to the communication needs of people with minor through to profound learning disabilities. Close attention will be paid to ways in which PWLD traverse and co-create their communities. The thesis will primarily consider to what extent and how these learning disability networks are produced by their community members' particular yet intersecting modes of participation and belonging. A speculative element of the project will invite PWLD to wonder what their communities could become and how broader society could adopt aspects of their practice.The thesis will contribute to the field of learning disability social research, with the potential of influencing learning disability communities, social sector practice and government policy. In particular, it will contribute to: a) understanding learning disability networks; b) the centring of PWLD as community practitioners; c) understanding how PWLD enact, experience and conceive 'meaningful inclusion' and d) conducting participatory research with people with minor through to profound learning disabilities.