“…The final overarching theme Of Its Time was about recognising the socio‐historical‐cultural nature of Antonia's representation and treatment (Barden & Walden, 2021). There were aspects of Antonia's life, particularly discrimination, social isolation, and institutionalisation that could be argued to belong to her epoch.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Microcephaly refers to having an exceptionally small head. Apart from this diagnosis, the justification for her institutionalisation appears to relate to notions of risk and control (Barden & Walden, 2021): For many years she led a wandering life, an object of curiosity, of pity, or of ridicule to all. At last she was removed to the hospital where she died (Ireland, 1877, p. 106).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Microcephaly refers to having an exceptionally small head. Apart from this diagnosis, the justification for her institutionalisation appears to relate to notions of risk and control (Barden & Walden, 2021):…”
Section: Step 1: Archival Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It was also about the ways people with learning are still dehumanised, particularly by the medical professions who attend to the label/diagnosis more so than the person, and through ongoing institutionalisation and coercive control. Such experiences ranged from being allocated a number instead of being allowed to label one's school clothes with a name, to supposedly having freedom of choice in staffed adult group accommodation yet having to conform to set bedtimes and regimented activities (see Barden & Walden (2021) for a detailed exploration of this issue). The theme of dehumanisation is beautifully illustrated by Figure 5, from the TRAC group.…”
Background
This paper reports on a participatory project on the history of learning disability. The paper makes contributions to discourses on using participatory research methods with people labelled with learning disabilities, on the nature of research impact in participatory research, and on the lived experience of learning disability today.
Methods
We used a two‐step methodology. The first step involved searching for and selecting archive material relating to the history of learning disability. The second step involved a series of participatory workshops. We worked collectively to systematically analyse the case history of Antonia Grandoni. Then we responded to it in a variety of creative ways. In doing so, we made connections between Antonia's life and our own.
Findings
Many of Antonia's experiences seem very similar to what people labelled with learning disabilities often encounter today. These include discrimination, segregation and dehumanisation. Despite this, we very much enjoyed doing the research. As well as finding out about the history, some of us learned new skills, some of us grew in confidence, and we also made new friends.
Conclusions
Participatory methods are an effective way of making digital archive material more accessible to people labelled with learning disabilities. In this project, using participatory methods revealed a lot of parallels between how we think somebody experienced learning disability in the mid‐19th century, and how it is experienced today. They also resulted in significant impact on the people doing the research.
“…The final overarching theme Of Its Time was about recognising the socio‐historical‐cultural nature of Antonia's representation and treatment (Barden & Walden, 2021). There were aspects of Antonia's life, particularly discrimination, social isolation, and institutionalisation that could be argued to belong to her epoch.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Microcephaly refers to having an exceptionally small head. Apart from this diagnosis, the justification for her institutionalisation appears to relate to notions of risk and control (Barden & Walden, 2021): For many years she led a wandering life, an object of curiosity, of pity, or of ridicule to all. At last she was removed to the hospital where she died (Ireland, 1877, p. 106).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Microcephaly refers to having an exceptionally small head. Apart from this diagnosis, the justification for her institutionalisation appears to relate to notions of risk and control (Barden & Walden, 2021):…”
Section: Step 1: Archival Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It was also about the ways people with learning are still dehumanised, particularly by the medical professions who attend to the label/diagnosis more so than the person, and through ongoing institutionalisation and coercive control. Such experiences ranged from being allocated a number instead of being allowed to label one's school clothes with a name, to supposedly having freedom of choice in staffed adult group accommodation yet having to conform to set bedtimes and regimented activities (see Barden & Walden (2021) for a detailed exploration of this issue). The theme of dehumanisation is beautifully illustrated by Figure 5, from the TRAC group.…”
Background
This paper reports on a participatory project on the history of learning disability. The paper makes contributions to discourses on using participatory research methods with people labelled with learning disabilities, on the nature of research impact in participatory research, and on the lived experience of learning disability today.
Methods
We used a two‐step methodology. The first step involved searching for and selecting archive material relating to the history of learning disability. The second step involved a series of participatory workshops. We worked collectively to systematically analyse the case history of Antonia Grandoni. Then we responded to it in a variety of creative ways. In doing so, we made connections between Antonia's life and our own.
Findings
Many of Antonia's experiences seem very similar to what people labelled with learning disabilities often encounter today. These include discrimination, segregation and dehumanisation. Despite this, we very much enjoyed doing the research. As well as finding out about the history, some of us learned new skills, some of us grew in confidence, and we also made new friends.
Conclusions
Participatory methods are an effective way of making digital archive material more accessible to people labelled with learning disabilities. In this project, using participatory methods revealed a lot of parallels between how we think somebody experienced learning disability in the mid‐19th century, and how it is experienced today. They also resulted in significant impact on the people doing the research.
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