People with Intellectual Disability Building Skills, Confidence and Voice to be Included in Decisions and be Leaders in the Community

Objectives This paper is about an inclusive evaluation research project we did with an intellectual disability organisation in South Australia. It explored how do people participating in the organisation’s workshops and activities gain skills and confidence they need to participate in and contribute to the community. Methods We explored how the organisation’s capacity building initiatives contribute to the skills, confidence, motivation and knowledge of people with intellectual disability and families. We also evaluated the capacity of people with intellectual disability to contribute to co-design and organisational decision-making. Results We found that there are many activities that are connected and we developed a framework. A co-researcher with lived experience of intellectual disability was part of the research team and contributed to all elements of the research. The co-researcher has written a reflection on working on the research. Conclusions We found that the organisational activities are connected and interaction between relationships and community are important, and so is involvement of people with intellectual disability in the activities. The paper is written in plain English in collaboration with the organisation, and it will also refer to the co-design elements of the organisation.