Undertaking participatory research with people with intellectual disabilities is becoming a much-discussed issue. Some researchers and self-advocates argue strongly that only participatory research can produce useful, honest research which assists people with intellectual disabilities to attain their rights. Others question whether such research is possible or indeed desirable. This paper describes a threeyear action research project which sought to carry out participatory research on the sensitive issue of sexuality. The research grew partly from concerns of people with intellectual disabilities about this issue and involved them in its management and implementation as well as in developing workshops and publications arising from the research. The research process was consciously self reflective and raised questions about participatory research, representation and difference, and the dialectical relationship between individual life histories and institutional change. This paper discusses these issues and the contribution they make to current methodological debates.

This paper explores the lived experience of women with disabilities in relation to preventative health. It is based on qualitative research in Australia involving 25 individual interviews and 4 focus groups with women with disabilities about their experience of cervical screening (Pap tests), 16 interviews and 2 focus groups with service providers and advocacy organizations and an audit of 4 Pap Test Services by a researcher with a disability. The research identified three kinds of barrier that prevented some women from accessing cervical screening: societal barriers, individual living circumstances, and the way the women and those around them constituted their subjectivity. This paper outlines briefly the key findings from the study, focussing particularly on barriers relating to subjectivity.