Shifting the Gaze

Abstract

The call for the inclusion of adults with learning disabilities in research has been taken up by an emerging literature advocating the same opportunities for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Emphasis has been placed on the need to develop creative research methodologies for working with this group; yet whilst research participants with intellectual disabilities have been able to utilise devices independently, the literature shows that those with profound learning disabilities have required supported methods. Melaneia Warwick's chapter draws from doctoral research that investigated the potential of wearable cameras as a method to emphasise participant control. It explores the experiences of participants through the film footage they collected during participatory arts workshops and brings to light the ways in which ongoing analysis of this data informed the study. It suggests that supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to conduct research in this way can promote individualised understandings of meaningful engagement to be developed. It concludes that the democratic use of wearable cameras offers a creative visual approach that can usefully disrupt the professional gaze, complicate traditional hierarchies of knowledge and make visible the experiences of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities in order to support their belonging in research.