The Belonging Project
A Research Partnership between Skills Society and the University of Alberta
Exploring the conditions, actions, and processes that support belonging in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities
Why a Project about Belonging?
A hope of Skills Society is that all people, including people with intellectual disabilities, feel like they belong. Some actions have already been taken to help make sure people with intellectual disabilities are included such as Canada adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the closing of large scale institutions in Alberta. However, these kinds of actions are not always enough on their own. Even though most people with intellectual disabilities now live in the community and generally enjoy the same rights and freedoms as everyone else, they often do not feel a strong sense of belonging. There also needs to continue to be shifts in the ways people think about, talk about, and relate to people with disabilities in order for people to feel like they belong. The goal of the Belonging Project was to learn more about how belonging shows up in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and the conditions, processes, and actions that help them feel like they belong.
What We Did
Five people with intellectual disabilities decided they wanted to participate in this project. Each of these people talked to the researchers in an interview, shared stories from their life, gave a tour of their home, and chose up to four spaces or relationships of belonging they wanted to explore further in a go-along interview. Participants took the researchers to all kinds of places including a community kitchen, places they volunteered and worked, a bowling alley, and coffee shops. Participants also introduced the researchers to their partners, friends, support workers, and family members. Researchers also interviewed nine policy, advocacy, and service provider leaders. Researchers recorded what was shared and used the information to write the articles and reports below. The researchers recognized the ways research has sometimes been used to harm people with disabilities in the past. The researchers were careful in the design of the project to make the process as inclusive, welcoming, and safe as possible. The researchers are also doing their best to make sure what was learned from the project is made accessible to different people including the participants, other people with disabilities and their allies, service providers, and other researchers.
Creative Workshop
As part of the exploration, project participants and their friends gathered in the Action Lab to collaboratively create symbols of their friendship. The workshop was lead by Jared Quinney, an artist from the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts. Participants used lino to stamp images onto paper. They then described their creations to the larger group. These descriptions were used to caption each piece. Participants got to take their framed art pieces home.
Articles & Reports
Academic articles and plain language summaries that have been created directly out of this project.
The Radical Role of Belonging in Shifting & Expanding Understandings of Social Inclusion
Academic Article
*A pre-print version is available for download below. For the final published version, contact preeves@ualberta.ca
Belonging and Inclusion: How are they the Same and Different?
Plain Language Summary
Belonging Involves Mutuality, Agency, and Acceptance: A Participatory Ethnographic Exploration of Belonging with Five Adults Labelled with Intellectual Disability
Academic Article
Belonging from the Perspective of People with Intellectual Disability
Plain Language Summary
“We’re not really into helping, we’re into being useful”: Service Provider Practices that Support Belonging
Academic Article
Service Provider Practices that Support Belonging
Plain Language Summary
Related reports that have been written by leaders of this project.
Actioning, Innovating, and Dreaming About Belonging
A think piece in the 2023 Skills Society Annual Report
Reflections on the ‘Good Life’
A think piece in the 2022 Skills Society Annual Report
Deepening our Capacity to Support Belonging
A think piece in the 2019 Skills Society Annual Report
Thank You to Our Funders
This project was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship as well as the Research at the Intersections of Gender Initiative and the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta.
Impact
The experiences and knowledge of Skills Society community members including the people we serve, their families and allies, and staff helped shape the creation of new knowledge and insights about belonging and how to support it
The work has been presented at multiple local, national, and international conferences including TASH, the Nordic Network of Disability Research, and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Conference
Three journal articles published in internationally recognized journals are anticipated
This project is an example of how to conduct research with people with intellectual disabilities in inclusive and safe ways
Findings from this work have and continue to inform Skills Society’s own practices and innovation projects
Leadership
Community
Members
We extend our gratitude to all who participated in this project. Your courage and willingness to share your experiences made this project possible.
Paige
Reeves
Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta and Director of Research and Social Innovation, Skills Society
Shanon
Phelan
Associate Professor, School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University and Director of SHIFT Collective
David
McConnell
Professor, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine - Occupational Therapy, University of Alberta and Director of Family and Disability Research Collaborative
Rebecca
Rubuliak
Director of Continuous Improvement and Innovation, Skills Society