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Accessible summaryAnne Lewthwaite from England and Eyglo Ebba Hreinsdó ttir from Iceland researched and recorded their life stories. Sue Ledger, Lindy Shufflebotham and Guðrú n Stefánsdó ttir helped with this research.Anne and Ebba both spent years in learning difficulty institutions when they were young.Anne and Ebba told their stories together at an international conference at the Open University in England. We also presented information about the history of institutions and self-advocacy in each country.

The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs 'Working together is like a partnership of entangled knowledge': exploring the sensitivities of doing participatory data analysis with people with learning disabilities

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Accessible summary This paper considers what we know about the life stories of people with learning disabilities. It was inspired by one of the authors sharing his own life story. It explores what a life story is. It discusses how life stories help us to understand more about people's lives and history It reviews what we know about how people with learning disabilities can record their stories, including people with high support needs We know life stories can help people to get good support and person‐centred care But we found that people's stories are often lost when there are big changes in their lives We found that staff may not have the skills or confidence to support people to tell and record their stories We think it is important to find out how life stories can be used to support better care for more people. ​ Abstract In this paper, the authors review life stories in learning disability research and practice since the 1960s. Although there is consistent evidence of their value in giving people a voice and an identity beyond the service label, they are not widely used in the provision of health and social care. This is despite long‐standing policy commitments to person‐centred practice. The paper explores possible barriers to the use of life story work and what further research is needed if they are to be more widely and effectively used in practice.