How can the creative arts help autistic people and those with learning disabilities to explore and share lived experiences? That’s the question that the team behind the “I’m Me” project at York St John University are trying to answer.
Through their 2-year Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project, Matthew Reason, Kelsie Acton and Jade French, and collaborators at Mind the Gap, took a multifaceted approach to encouraging autistic people and those with learning disabilities to explore themes of identity, representation, and voice through the creative arts.
One of the team’s varied outputs includes the Creative Doodle Book, encouraging the reader to write, list, and draw answers to various prompts – supporting thinking in an open and creative way.
The project culminates in a creative arts symposium and festival in June 2025, featuring performances, exhibitions, and videos from those involved in the project, as well as a discussion of the challenges of working with creative methods in inclusive research.
The “I’m Me” team are looking for presentations submissions for their symposium on Thursday 19th June, from anyone with experience of creative arts and inclusive research, on subjects such as:
- Ethics, both formal and informal
- Facilitation practices
- Knowledge translation, analysis, meaning making
- Authorship, dissemination, impact
- Building meaningful partner relationships
- Specific arts-based approaches
Interested applicants are asked to complete this form before the 30th November. For more information, contact Kelsie Acton at k.acton@yorksj.ac.uk.