Researcher knowledge

Key challenge Mitigation strategies

Children with disabilities may be excluded from evidence generation activities due to evidence generation teams lacking sufficient knowledge about inclusive and ethical practices. In low- and middle-income countries, training

for researchers in inclusive research methods and ethics may be limited or absent.

Ideally, evidence generation teams would be trained on or about:

  • how to conduct good quality, ethical data collection with children with disabilities

  • how to adapt communication approaches to children with different impairments

  • how to communicate with participants in a way that they are comfortable with (including sign language/using visual methods)

  • local and national sociocultural, religious and political contextual realities in relation to children and disability

  • the importance of flexibility and optimism, and of adopting an inclusive, respectful and positive approach

  • how to build trust between children, families and researchers by developing an open and shared understanding of the research design and processes.

Organizations representing or supporting people with disabilities should be consulted to strengthen researcher knowledge by providing the perspectives of adults with disabilities. It should be noted, however, that their experiences as children may have been very different to what children with disabilities experience today.

Where possible, the evidence generation team should involve people with disabilities and, as appropriate, children with disabilities as researchers/ facilitators. These individuals will also require training in inclusive and ethical practices.