“Digging Deeper” Advocate Researchers’ Views on Advocacy and Inclusive Research

We are the Clare Inclusive Research Group (CIRG) a group of advocates with a learning disability, funded by the Irish support agency the Brothers of Charity (B.O.C.), Clare Services. As a long-established inclusive research group we were approached to reflect on our journey as advocates and researchers. In this article we talk about our work, challenging and helping repeal discriminating Irish law regarding intimate relationships. We then talk about our understanding of advocacy and inclusive research and make recommendations to make this work more effective. Method: As a group of members of CIRG, with the coordinator of the group, we developed this article using online Zoom discussion calls to identify themes, circulating online explanations of drafts followed by Zoom reflections and finally responding to academic reviews. The direct comments made by us as advocate researchers have been retained as they were expressed. Conclusions, Limitations and recommendations: One of our team remarked “advocacy and inclusive research are twins”. We concluded that they are very close but not identical. Our work together on this article led us to create a discussion paper, Manifesto for Inclusive Research. This was adopted as a touchstone for presentations at the first webinar roundtable of the newly formed Inclusive Research IASSID Special Interest Research Group in March 2022. In it we set out guidelines for creating inclusive research which require accessible information and valuing our input in terms that match our status as experts by experience in inclusive research. We challenge academic inclusive researchers who explore the world of intellectual disability to stand shoulder to shoulder with advocate inclusive researchers. Through our work together, we aim to create more fulfilling lives for us all.