Groundbreaking project gives a voice to people with learning disabilities

Channel 4

19-06-2025

By Rosie Baldwin
For decades, the voices of people with
learning disabilities
were overlooked, their stories pushed to the margins of history.
As the historian Jan Walmsley has pointed out: 'Before about 1963, there are no voices of people with learning disabilities in their own words. Nothing.'
But a new initiative from the charity United Response is ensuring their stories will be heard and remembered for generations to come.
Across the UK, people with learning disabilities are taking part in a groundbreaking oral history project called Our Life Stories. For the first time, their personal lives are being recorded by peers with similar experiences, to be featured in a touring exhibition, before they are permanently archived in the British Library.
By training participants to interview each other, the project makes sure these stories are collected by people who genuinely understand the reality of living with a disability.
We went along to a two-day training course in Devon, where a group taking part in the project learnt the craft of listening, asking meaningful questions, and recording powerful life stories.
The atmosphere was warm and open, and people felt safe enough to talk about things that really mattered to them – from coming to terms with their sexuality, to dealing with the pain of losing loved ones, to the lasting impact of being bullied. It was moving, honest, and full of heart.
These interviews reveal a rich tapestry of life, resilience, and change. A chorus of voices that reflect the breadth and diversity of experience within the learning disability community.
In one moving story recorded last October, a man named Mark interviewed Tess, a woman who spent much of her life in institutions. Today, she lives independently in her own bungalow in Newcastle, with a rescue cat and a new sense of freedom. But her journey there was harrowing.
Tess was just 14 when she was first placed into institutional care, a stay that ultimately lasted 40 years. During that time, she was subjected to treatments including electroconvulsive therapy, as well as being restrained and put into prolonged seclusion. Now, with support and autonomy, Tess has rebuilt her life. Sitting alongside Mark in her home, she told Ruben Reuter about the importance of sharing her story, not only for her own healing but to help others understand the injustices people with learning disabilities have endured.
For both Tess and Mark, the interview was a deeply emotional experience.
Mark pointed out the significance of this moment: 'Understanding history is important, and not allowing the fact that these things used to happen to just get brushed under the table and forgotten about. I think it's important that people are aware that this sort of thing was going on… to make sure that we don't go back there.'
For many taking part, it's the first time they've been asked to reflect on their past, and the first time their experiences are being taken seriously by the wider world.
For Tess, knowing her story will be preserved in the British Library is a source of hope: 'People like myself just get forgotten about. We don't get listened to enough. It doesn't matter what your disability is, you should still be listened to.'
This is more than an oral history project – it's a movement toward inclusion, understanding, and justice. And this is just the beginning, with the voices now part of the national record.
As Ruben Reuter points out: 'This is just the beginning. These voices are now part of our national record. They will help build a future where everyone is better understood, included and valued.'
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