Co‐producing knowledge: Reflections on research on the residential geographies of learning disability

Abstract

Most adults are able to take some control over where they live and are able to reflect on their migration histories, those places where they have lived and worked, and those places where they might aspire to live in the future. These life‐altering decisions have been negotiated either autonomously or in conjunction with significant others in their lives. For some adults, most notably those with learning disabilities, these life decisions are partially, if not wholly, made for them by others. It is therefore the aim of this paper to uncover more about the decision‐making opportunities afforded to people with learning disabilities regarding their home‐spaces as they navigate “moving landscapes” that they have perhaps not envisaged for themselves. The paper identifies the need for a co‐production of knowledge that recognises alternative methods of communication and participation in research, which seeks to de‐mystify the authentic, and perhaps mundane, realities of living with a learning disability. Indeed, some geographers have questioned the integrity of research that fails to allow those with learning disabilities to control at least some part of the process. And so, by embracing lives that are “differently normal,” the paper seeks to challenge the role of the expert by engaging with methods that allow the distinction between researched and researcher to become blurred, allowing the voice of the learning‐disabled individual clearly to be heard. Finally, the paper will discuss the disconnect between intended methodological approaches and those undertaken “in the field.”