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DiStory Then and Now: Stories from the Inside

A elderly man staring at road

DiStory Then and Now: Stories from the Inside

Ann Fudge Schormans, Principle Investigator

Leah Dolmage and Chelsea Temple Jones Co-Investigators

What is the research about?

The DiStory project is an inclusive project in which 14 people labelled/with intellectual disabilities (seven who identify as survivors of Ontario’s large scale institutions for people labelled/with intellectual disabilities and seven who grew up in community) are working as co-researchers with academic researchers and community-based arts facilitators.

The goal of this intergenerational project is to share and gather information about survivors’ experiences of violence, trauma and loss as well as those of co-researchers who, while growing up in community, share such experiences and other forms of institutionalized care. As a largely invisible group, the sharing of these histories and ongoing realities – as well as the ways that people resist and live their lives the way they choose – is necessary.

What did the researchers do?

Prior to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, project members used arts-based workshops to collaboratively identify research goals, tasks, ways of working, and desired outcomes. The decision was made to develop learning materials targeting college-level and undergraduate students to teach them about the lives, experiences, desires and resistance of people labelled/with intellectual disabilities. Before the learning materials could be finished, the pandemic forced us to shift to working virtually however most of the disabled co-researchers did not have access to technology or the support required to use such – phone calls then became a primary means of working.

How can you use this research?

A variety of learning materials are being developed including learning modules, blogs, digital stories, and visual art. A performance piece is also in the works which, like the other materials, will be posted on a project website (also in development). The website will be widely available for use, not only with students, but for anyone with an interest in learning more about this history and lives of people labelled/with intellectual disabilities.

Researcher

Ann  Fudge Schormans headshot image

Ann Fudge Schormans

PhD

Associate Professor, Social Work

Citation

DiStory Co-researcher Group, Kuri E., & Fudge Schormans, A. (Feb. 2022). Justice versus Injustice. In Bones, P.D.C. & Smart Gullion, J., and Barber, D. (Eds.), Re-defining Disability, pp. 84-89. Brill/Sense Publishing