“You have the right to love and be loved”: participatory theatre for disability justice with self-advocates

Abstract

Individuals with intellectual disability are often left out of and overlooked in discussions on sexual health and sexuality. Given this, we undertook a participatory theatre research project to better respond to the needs of the individuals with intellectual and developmental disability regarding their sexual agency and sexual citizenship. The project, entitled Romance, Relationships, and Rights arose when the executive director of a community living agency approached researchers at the University of British Columbia’s Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship to learn about how they, as an agency, could better support their community. To disrupt sexual ableism and traditional theatre hierarchies, we collaboratively turned to participatory and disability theatre with the aim to advance and promote the sexual citizenship of individuals with intellectual and developmental disability, who refer to themselves as self-advocates - those who speak and act with agency. The challenges of equitable co-creation arose throughout the theatre process; the themes of deconstruction/co-construction and uncertainty and liminality reveal the iterative process of centering self-advocate voices.

Sex: What Is the Big Deal? Exploring Individuals’ with Intellectual Disabilities Experiences with Sex Education

“…In our program of research, we seek to disrupt ableism to advance and promote the citizenship of individuals with ID, who we refer to as self-advocates (SA). The term "self-advocate" positions individuals with ID as self-determining and acting with agency (Anderson & Bigby, 2017;Schnellert et al, 2021). Such a stance aligns with Nussbaum's approach to justice as articulated by Kulick and Rydström (2015) that ensures "fundamental human entitlements that allow people to live with dignity and develop their capability to exist and flourish in the world" (p. 278).…”

“…In our program of research, we seek to disrupt ableism to advance and promote the citizenship of individuals with ID, who we refer to as self-advocates (SA). The term “self-advocate” positions individuals with ID as self-determining and acting with agency (Anderson & Bigby, 2017; Schnellert et al, 2021).…”

Romance, Relationships, and Rights: Ethical Considerations and Dilemmas in a Research-Based Theater Project With Self-Advocate Co-Creators and Actors

“…Phase 2 demonstrates CPAR where SA co-creators' shared ownership for the development of the content of the production drawing from their lived experience, identifying the messages, and perspectives they wanted their peers, families, caregivers, and society to receive and shaping the form of the theater production. In Phase 3, we conducted focus groups to understand SA, TA, and steering committee member experiences of the RbT process (see Schnellert et al, 2021). In this article, we offer reflections on the ethical tensions encountered throughout our RbT process.…”