In Our Own Words brings together a collection of essays from a group that became affectionately known as LD (Learning Disability) Club. The project arose from a Knowledge Transfer Partnership and some serendipitous encounters. It led to the development of a programme that took history and the humanities as inspiration for some creative and inclusive activities. The origins of the group and its rationale are detailed in the introductory chapter but the ones that follow are authored by those who took part it. This includes people with LD, their support workers, heritage professionals and volunteers, and undergraduate history students and university staff. 

Within a general aim of focussing on shared histories, rather than presenting another history of Learning Disability, each author offers insights into their own experiences of the group and its activities using words and photographs. As a result, the finished volume does not capture everything that took place, but it does offer an overview of the possibilities of partnership working and the place of history and the humanities within that process. At the end of the volume are contributions from two eminent academics based in South Africa and Australia. As a whole, it is sure to be of interest to those seeking examples of inclusive impact and engagement activities, co-production, social policy and care, public history and heritage, and student engagement and employability, as well as history and the humanities.  

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About the author:

Rob Ellis is a Professor of Modern British History at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research focuses on the histories of mental ill-health and learning disabilities, and his publications include London and its Asylums (Palgrave, 2020) and the co-edited volume Voices in the Histories of Madness (Palgrave, 2021). As part of his role, Rob has worked on a wide range of impact, outreach and engagement projects with present-day service users, statutory and charitable care providers, heritage professionals, theatre practitioners and artists.  He is currently working on a history of community care and is the lead on the Asylum: Refugees and Mental Health project which explores the experiences of Belgian refugees during the First World War.

humanities education history Open Access Learning Disability