Our research
Our Life Stories is curated by autistic people and people with learning disabilities.
Our lived experience interviewers, themselves supported by United Response, have been trained in oral history techniques. They have spent 2024 interviewing other people we support in their area.
We believe we are the first peer-to-peer oral history project in the learning disabilities space. Our methodology is motivated by a desire to see people with learning disabilities documenting their own history. Project Manager, Charlotte Moore, said:
In a world where people with learning disabilities have endlessly heard their stories told by someone else, this project is a desperately needed addition to the research space.
Channel 4 recently covered Our Life Stories and its importance being a first-of-its-kind undertaking that shines a light on the lived experience of people. As the article states “This is more than an oral history project – it’s a movement toward inclusion, understanding, and justice.” Visit the Channel 4 article by clicking HERE.
Our Life Stories was also featured in the July edition of Community Living Magazine.
You can also read a research paper about the project written by Maxine Spry from United Response and Professor Jan Walmsley which was recently published by the University of East London – click HERE to read the paper in full.
As we continue on our journey, we will be adding clips from interviews and stories to this website. Our complete interviews will then be shown at a touring exhibition in London, York, Nottingham and Cornwall in early 2026, before being preserved in the British Library.
This archiving will be vital for preserving cultural heritage, celebrating the present and historic achievements of the people we support, and raising public awareness about the challenges they’ve faced. We will also share our own research articles on our website.
If you would be interested in featuring the project in your research and you would like more information, please contact the project team.