Lancaster Disability Studies Conference

The Centre for Disability Research (CeDR) at Lancaster University hosted its eighth conference 6–8 September 2016. The three-day event, organized by Hannah Morgan and Brigit McWade, welcomed international delegates, academics from disability studies and multidisciplinary backgrounds, disability activists, and postgraduate students. Eight years on from its establishment by Professors Carol Thomas and Chris Hatton, CeDR continues to provide a space for activists, academics, and organizations to share, consolidate, and revisit matters surrounding disability, impairment, and society. In this comment, I present my own experience of the conference and provide subjective summaries of the talks I attended. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend Day One of the conference; therefore, my report will be limited in terms of overall coverage.

The conference was comprised of two streams: Peter Beresford (Brunel University) and Brigit McWade (Lancaster University) led a mad studies stream, while Kirsty Liddiard (University of Sheffield) and Tom Shakespeare (University of East Anglia) hosted a sexuality stream. The former was underpinned by narratives of action and reclaiming the stories of people who have survived institutional oppression on the basis of their mental health experiences. The latter stream provided a forum for conversations surrounding sex, love, and relationships from a disability studies perspective.

The conference started with a commanding keynote speech by Sara Ryan (Oxford University), "What the fuckwhatery? Disability studies, activism and the continuing denial of the human." Ryan talked of her son, Conor Sparrowhawk, a real "dude," also known as "laughing boy" (LB). Unfortunately, I first came to learn about LB's life due to tragic circumstances. When Conor was 18, he was admitted to an NHS assessment and treatment centre. Conor was identified as having learning difficulties, autism, and epilepsy, and had gone to stay at the facility for a period of time due to the significant mood changes he was experiencing. Conor died during his time at the facility—although I do not go into details here, the event was later proven entirely preventable. At the crux of Ryan's talk was the "invisibility" surrounding the lives of people who carry the label of learning difficulties. Over the course of her speech, Ryan suggested that people with learning difficulties are largely overlooked in disability studies research. To evidence the point, she reviewed UK-based research published by one of the main journals in the field, Disability & Society, between the years 1994 and 2013 (Conor's lifespan). She found that the range of research relating to learning difficulties, published within the journal over the course of this time period, ranged from as little as 2 to 30%. Given these findings, she called for greater recognition and representation of the lives of people with learning difficulties within disability studies journals.

The editor of Disability & Society, Michelle Moore, was present in the audience and responded in a sensitive manner to the pressing issues raised. She called for a greater number of researchers in the field of disability studies to address issues faced by people with learning difficulties. Ryan's talk could not have done a better job in setting a proactive and fierce tone for CeDR's conference. The audience hummed with conversations surrounding bureaucratic frames that, too often, restrict provocative and imaginative approaches to research. One member of the audience called for a redefinition of what research "is" and "looks like." It was pointed out that many disability activists and academics are bloggers and regular contributors to social media; however, within the traditional confines of academia and research, their work would not be viewed as "impactful."

Indeed, Ryan's keynote speech spurred my own thoughts on the extent to which academic conferences may authentically facilitate participation and engagement with disabled people, who are at the centre of disability studies research. This point raises many questions about, for example, the extent to which research participants have ownership or actually benefit from the papers presented at academic conferences. Also, can researchers do more in terms of communicating to research participants that their words, ideas, and experiences filter through to large audiences and have the potential to change lives, behaviours, and practices? When addressing such questions, ethical considerations must be...