We wanted to capture the history of friendships and intimate, romantic relationships experienced by people with a learning disability. Friends and romantic partners were captured in conversation as they talked about their shared history.
From 2017 to 2021, Our Social Networks worked to:
capture and preserve the heritage of people with a learning disability, a voice often absent from heritage and society more generally;
improve understanding of, and support for, friendships and relationships
Relationships are about the people in your life. You might have different types of relationships like friendships, family relationships, or a boyfriend or girlfriend.
for people with learning disabilities, by collecting and sharing their oral histories around this theme;enhance inclusion and access in the heritage sector;
provide employment
Employment means having a job.
and create models of support for adults with learning disabilities
The project collected 40 oral histories around friendships and relationships from 59 people, most of whom were adults with learning disabilities.
Our findings for social care
The oral histories we collected told us a great deal about the barriers and good practice people with a learning experienced when being supported to have friendships or intimate relationships.
We have produced some written and video reports that explain what the oral histories told us, and what we think needs to change within
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
to make things better.
Click below to download our report 'A Life More Ordinary'.
Who We Are
'Who We Are' is our animation based on the experience of those who shared their oral history. Storytelling can help build empathy, make use feel better about ourselves and develop a sense of identity. Oral history is one kind of storytelling but there are many kinds.
It's an animation produced by students at Cardiff Metropolitan University that explains why storytelling is the best way to support people with a learning disability.
Top Tips for Museums
Here are our top tips for museums to become more
accessible
Accessible means something is easy for people to use or join in with. For example: Accessible writing means the writing is easy to read and understand.
for people with a learning disability.
Produced by students at Cardiff Metropolitan University that explains why storytelling is the best way to support people with a learning disability.
Our Social Networks Film
BAFTA-Cymru winning director, Clare Sturges (Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and Me, The Arborist) directed this short film featuring some of the project participants.
They speak about the meaning and importance of friendship, love and romance.
Accessible report
We have also created this accessible version of our report.
Our Social Networks Evaluation
Our Funders
