Go With the FLOo – Authentic Voices in Research With Families Where One or More Parents Have an Intellectual Disability

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the merits and challenges of organic communication within an inclusive, iterative research design through our research project ‘Improving the quality of life of families with parents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and their children (<12 years) by means of assistive robotics’. We will discuss the research process, its key steps and preliminary findings, as well as how inclusivity of participants was taken along throughout this process. The links between research design, designers and project participants are explored and reflected on. Our positions as researchers within the research process are also reflected upon. We will additionally address the implications of our research for the broader field of inclusive design for assistive robotics and the creative methodologies employed and tailored to the needs of families headed by parents with an ID and their children. In this, we keep a close eye on the difficulties such families face within the context of our research project. Lastly, we reflect on several key markers of collaboration within marginalised communities we encountered in our research.

Citation

Cardinaal, L., Kolesnik, J.S., Koning, M., Hodes, M.W. and Schippers, A. (2024), "Go With the FLOo – Authentic Voices in Research With Families Where One or More Parents Have an Intellectual Disability", Rose, R. and Shevlin, M. (Ed.) Including Voices (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 23), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 231-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620240000023018