Academics should consult people

From an article by Mike Gulliver: “Academics should consult Deaf people before we plan to co-produce research with them. Surely?”

“How can we think of a project, think that it’s an interesting idea, think that it’s a good idea for the community, think that we know how to set it up… and then write the proposal, get the funding… all without the community being involved, and then expect the community to gratefully leap into a ready exploration of co-production with us?

We can’t, surely. I mean, if the Deaf community did the same; dreamed up a project, wrote it, went off and got funding, all without telling us. And then suddenly turned up at the door of the university and expected us to understand that it was a project that was ‘empowering’ and that they expected us to be grateful and immediately get involved… I can imagine the response.

In fact, I’m not even sure there would be a response. More a puzzled ‘what?’

Before writing people into a co-production proposal, it’s only polite to ask… surely?”