Abstract: This CASIC talk marks the beginning of a three year long research project that aims to understand how children with learning disabilities can be offered better opportunities to share their stories and express their personalities. The talk will introduce the issues surrounding the cultural participation of children who may have different needs in terms of communication and accessing creative activities. It will discuss how the project will invite children but also their parents, teaching staff and other relevant stakeholders and explain why their participation will be considered a fundamental and dynamic part of the research process. Finally the talk will focus on the reasons for using physical comedy performance in combination with Cultural Animation techniques to establish environments in which child and adult can contribute to this research outside their respective hierarchical positions. It will also outline the aim of adding a new focus to CASIC by initiating a network to support and connect academics with artist and the wider community to create inclusive opportunities for children and relevant stakeholders.

Bio: Karian Schuitema is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at Keele University and is based at the Centre for Community Animation and Social Innovation. With a PhD on the subject of children’s theatre, she is an interdisciplinary researcher who specialises in art and theatre for the young as well as theoretical approaches to cultural representation and participation, children’s rights and education. She has founded the Children’s Theatre in the UK Research Network (available at: www.childrenstheatre.wordpress.com) and co-edited Theatre for Young Audiences: A critical handbook (Institute of Education Press, 2012). In addition to her academic research she has extensive experience of working with children and young people in positions such as play inclusion worker, Mencap nursery assistant and as a teaching assistant for children with special needs.