The power of difference in inclusive research

Abstract

Inclusive research involves people with intellectual disabilities actively and strives for empowerment and normalisation. Less is written about the power dynamics in a research team consisting of researchers and people with intellectual disabilities and the possible value of such collaboration. In this auto-ethnography we reflect on these aspects and the challenges along the way. We conclude that striving for normalisation can be paralysing; ‘doing the same’ is not always possible and can be disempowering for all members of the research team. Acknowledging differences and uniqueness enriches research outcomes and makes us reflect on our own, sometimes rigid, academic frameworks.

Keywords:

• inclusive research
• intellectual disability
• normalisation
• difference
• auto-ethnography

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the three research partners for their unique contributions to the research. They also want to thank Frank Renders for his contribution and critical questions during the reflection process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. All pseudonyms.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Zorg Onderzoek Nederland/Medische Wetenschappen, The Hague, the Netherlands [grant number 415020001].