About us

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The Centre for Society, History and Learning Disabilities is based in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at The Open University.

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The Centre leads and promotes inclusive learning disability research. The Centre is co-led by people with learning disabilities.

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Our members include academics from the OU and other universities, self-advocates, family members, and practitioners.

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Dorothy Atkinson and Jan Walmsley formed the group in 1994. They called it The Social History of Learning Disability Group.

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They wondered why not much was written about learning disability history.

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They found that lots of people with learning disabilities had stories to tell about their lives and histories.

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They worked with people with learning disabilities to tell their stories through research, books and conferences.

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Lots of people told their stories, like Mabel Cooper.

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The group developed lots of way to do inclusive learning disability research. You can learn more about the group’s history here.

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In 2025 we became a Centre to reflect how SHLD had grown.

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The Centre supports inclusive research in lots of areas.

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This includes research about history, archives and stories.

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And research about health and social care.

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We do research about advocacy, rights and justice.

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And about inclusive arts and culture.

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