The importance of social relationships and loneliness: An inclusive research project in Spain

Abstract

Accessible summary This article presents part of the research project we carried out on the importance of social relationships and loneliness in young people with and without intellectual disabilities. We interviewed 23 young people during our research which was developed over more than a year and a half. Social relationships are important for young people both with and without learning disabilities. A person may want or need to be alone, but nobody wants to feel lonely. We wrote this article collaboratively. People with a intellectual disabilities do not often contribute to written papers. Abstract This article presents the results of a project carried out by a group of researchers with and without intellectual disabilities on the importance of social relationships and loneliness. We wanted to find out about the experience of loneliness in young people with and without intellectual disabilities and know whether this was an important issue for them too. We interviewed a total of 23 young people during our research which was developed over more than a year and a half. This article has been organised into three parts. In the first part, the two academic researchers outline the concept of inclusive research highlighting the value of recognising and making the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities visible. Following this, the four authors describe how the research group was formed and the methodological decisions that were made. Finally, we report the results of the research and the main conclusions. The young people with and without disabilities we interviewed told us that nobody wants to feel lonely. We believe that it is important for other researchers at the university to recognise our work and be encouraged to implement inclusive research processes.

Building a research team and selecting a research topic within the process of an inclusive research project in Spain

“…In addition, two of the co-researches and the two academic researchers worked for 2 months writing an academic paper (Rojas-Pernia et al, 2020).…”

“…In addition, two of the co-researches and the two academic researchers worked for 2 months writing an academic paper (Rojas-Pernia et al, 2020). ers also register, through voice notes, a brief reflection and summary of what happened in each meeting.…”

“…Thus, in this article we believe it is important to describe the way in which our research has been developed and attempt to identify what the added value is. On the other hand, it is necessary to make visible other works by this research team, which are the result of collaborative writing between academic researchers and co‐researchers, and which focus on the topics that are selected by people with disabilities and their main findings (Rojas‐Pernia et al, 2020).…”

Pesquisas acadêmicas em educação e a participação social da pessoa com deficiência

“…Com abordagens distintas, desde a pesquisa emancipatória (MARTINS et al, 2012) à pesquisa inclusiva (WALMSLEY; JOHNSON, 2003), perspectivas que buscam, no desenvolvimento de seus estudos, atender às reais necessidades dos sujeitos investigados, os convocam em uma participação ativa também como pesquisadores (PUYALTÓ et al, 2015). Rojas-Pernia et al (2020) sugerem que pesquisadores busquem outras estratégias que respeitem as especificidades comunicativas dos sujeitos envolvidos na pesquisa, para além da comunicação comum, uma vez que esses sujeitos são atravessados por outras exclusões sociais, materiais, entre outras. Ainda de acordo com os autores, essa postura de enfrentamento frente às limitações comunicacionais dos sujeitos investigados vai ao encontro de uma das premissas contidas no documento da Convenção sobre os Direitos das Pessoas com Deficiência (BRASIL, 2007), da eliminação das barreiras, entre elas a da comunicação, o que possibilita aos pesquisadores ultrapassar qualquer tipo de restrição metodológica, de convicção pedagógica, sem, com isso, abandonar qualquer abordagem dialógica.…”

“…Uma abordagem que, segundo Rojas-Pernia et al (2020), pode contribuir com a participação ativa de pessoas com deficiência se refere à pesquisa inclusiva, que congrega um conjunto de métodos que são descritos de maneiras diferentes na literatura, podendo abranger a pesquisa participativa, emancipatória, pesquisa-ação ou colaborativa. Tais abordagens pretendem reforçar a democratização nos processos de investigação e, consequentemente, os tipos de interação que irão se estabelecer entre os participantes e os pesquisadores, tanto no meio acadêmico como fora dele.…”