Paper, Pictures and Song: Learning Disabilities and Inclusion

Abstract

Adults with a learning disability represent one of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in society, with social exclusion indices painting a bleak picture across the globe (Redley, 2009). Andrew Lee (2007/8) provides a vivid description of his own experience: ‘I think of life as a person with learning difficulties as being taken to watch a football match where life is that football match and never being allowed to join in’. This account highlights the feelings aroused by social exclusion and also the consequences — the sense of never being allowed to join in. If we want to avoid losing valuable perspectives and wasting human resources, it is important that issues contributing to the exclusion of this group are confronted and that an environment is provided in which the gifts and talents of those labelled with a learning disability are allowed to flourish. In this chapter, I consider three issues which act against the inclusion of adults with a learning disability in society and then describe a project which attempted to address these issues. The research project explored the use of song, photography and collage to enable four adults with a learning disability to convey important aspects of their lives. Finally, I describe how some of the principles from the project were subsequently incorporated into an art course aimed at adults with a learning disability. The outcomes from the initial research project and the later course clearly demonstrate how using creative arts with this excluded group can provide a means for the individuals concerned to express themselves and be heard by others.