"I'm Me": Peer and Creative Research with Learning Disabled and Autistic Artists into Identity, Representation and Voice

I'm Me will work with learning disabled and autistic artists as peer and creative researchers to explore questions of identity, representation and voice.

Learning disabled and autistic people are amongst the most marginalised and voice-less within our society. They are often perceived as vulnerable and requiring protection or care, while rarely having a prominent voice within public discourses, even with issues that directly relate to disability. The disability arts are a rare forum where these relationships are challenged, with learning disabled and autistic artists utilising their creativity to assert their agency and identity.

I'm Me will be conducted in collaboration with Mind the Gap (MTG) and in partnership with a network of six disability arts companies. Through this network, learning disabled and autistic artists will act as peer and creative researchers, alongside two learning disabled Peer Research Associates. Together we will explore, critique, subvert and reconstitute questions of learning disability identity, representation and voice. We will work through a reflexive methodology based on the 'Creative Doodle Book', a resource that uses open and playful tasks to encourage reflective self-expression. This approach was tested between 2019-21 when the Doodle Book was used extensively with learning disability groups across the UK, developing a resource that enables the exploration of challenging and complex issues, such as identity, in an inclusive manner. Through this approach the perceptions, insights and creative understandings of the peer researchers will be at the heart of both the process and the outcomes.

The project has three distinct phases. Phase 1 will create a revised version of the Doodle Book in collaboration with MTG and the Peer Research Network. Alongside this we will work with access champions Totally Inclusive People to co-create a series of three 12-week peer research cycles. Facilitators and artists from each of the partner companies will be trained in the delivery of these resources. Phase 2 will deliver these peer research cycles at each of the partner companies. This process will elicit understandings of how learning disabled and autistic adults view questions of identity and representation, and from this work towards greater understandings of self-advocacy, agency and voice. Through open tasks that elicit multiple ways of expression, the process will develop creative forms of insider testimonies that will include written, spoken, visual and other non-verbal materials. Phase 3 will focus on the production of creative outputs by learning disabled and autistic artists that draw upon the testimonies and insights from across the whole Peer Research Network. The partner companies and the participating artists will be supported by creative producers from MTG to develop their reflective insights into public facing art works and documentations. A learning disability led team will utilise these to construct a book and curate a two-day I'm Me Festival, each designed to communicate the insights and lived experiences from the project. It is anticipated that these will include art works, spoken word, personal narrative, documentary film and live performance. Crucial to this stage will be the involvement of learning disabled and autistic artists in editorial, authorial and curatorial processes and decision making.

The outcomes of the project will include: 1) A new model for peer research with learning disabled and autistic participants. 2) Greater understanding of how identity, representation and voice are understood by learning disabled and autistic adults. 3) Impactful, outward-facing materials that shift public perceptions, provide resources for support agencies in training and education, and evidence the value of engaging learning disabled and autistic voices in research, public discourse and policy.