Finding methods for the inclusion of all children: Advancing participatory research with children with disabilities

Abstract

This method-focused article continues the discussion of how methodological challenges in research with children with disabilities can be overcome. By examining the difficulties in introducing walk-and-talk conversations in an ethnographic study with young children (3–11 years) with disabilities, it asks what doing research ‘with’ means and on whose terms research should take place. The article argues for a shift in the understanding of doing ‘with’, from a researcher-controlled research encounter to the focusing of children's own activities. This ensures the participation of all children in research, by recognizing and listening to the many different ways in which children communicate.