In the second of our LivingBodiesObjects (LBO) takeover trilogy, Dey Ricketts reflects on residency 2: The impact and importance of easy-read and co-production for early career researchers.
LivingBodiesObjects (LBO) is a Wellcome Trust-funded exploration of how Health research is conducted and how new ways of working can be established. The project comprised four residencies involving medical humanities researchers from the University of Leeds, a creative digital media company, and an external partner. A research assistant who was an Early Career Researcher (ECR) was hired for each residency. An ECR is a post-graduate researcher (either on the verge of completing or having completed their PhD within the last few years). Over the three days, three of the research assistants will provide accounts exploring how we’ve been learning from each other regarding an innovative way of using co-production as ECRs.
For my first post-doctoral research experience, we worked as fellow researchers with young adults who are neurodivergent (trainees). This approach led to a refreshing take on co-production and enhanced participation because the young adults were not only able to gain an understanding of what it was like to be a researcher; they were integral to the outcomes of the project we were working on.
The use of virtual reality (VR) technology with young adults with additional needs is still under-researched. In our second residency with Living Bodies Objects, we wanted to explore the benefits and limitations of VR technology with young adults with additional needs, following on from findings from our first residency, where the use of robots was part of a co-produced performance (see Luo’s (2025) post).
Here, we found that technology enabled young people who are neurodivergent to demonstrate their strengths and talents. In our second residency we looked at the physical and mental wellbeing benefits- as well as the limitations- of using VR technology with 2 groups of 8-10 young adults (aged 16-25) with different forms of neurodivergence- including ADHD, autism and Prader Willis Syndrome. We found that there was a distinct positive impact on both physical and mental wellbeing for diverse needs. We also found that our approach in this residency had a lot to offer discussions on co-production in wider research contexts. For example, improvements to engagement from participants due to a removal of a power differential between participant and researcher by treating participants as fellow researchers.
We worked together on helping the trainees access and use VR technology. To help them understand why we were researching the use of VR technology, my job was to help coproduce a systematic literature review in both academic and easy-read formats.
“Easy Read is a way of showing written down information that makes it easier to read. Text is broken down into short sentences on a page, images are chosen to represent each sentence, and language is simplified where possible” (Mencap, 2024).
I first went away and completed the foundational desk research. This consisted of finding articles that might help answer two questions that the trainees wanted some answers to:
1. How might technology like VR and Augmented reality (AR) help young adults who are neurodivergent with new experiences?
2. What examples of good ideas are there about the research involving or the general use of technology like VR and AR with young adults who are neurodivergent?
I searched databases like Science Direct and PubMed for articles that could be relevant to these questions. I then used PRISMA screening to limits the number of articles found from 729 initial findings to 21 texts that were the most relevant to these questions. I made this screening process accessible by way of RAG (red, amber, green) grading the articles with explanations of why they were graded as such in a spreadsheet so trainees could see clearly why I included the articles I did.
I then worked with trainees on how they would like the information to be shared with them. They requested to have picture references and simplistic language that anyone could understand. We worked together on how we could simplify some of the information. This meant removing all jargon, finding relevant imagery to go alongside simple-compound declarative sentences that were concise and to the point, and ensuring that the format was accessible (large print, image to the left-hand side of each paragraph, short 1-2 sentence long paragraphs, maximum 10 pages).
Being consulted as fellow researchers not only led to greater engagement from the trainees with the VR technology, but also helped improve their confidence and communication with the rest of the research team. Trainees reflected that having information in easy-read format led to an increased understanding of why they were part of the project, along with helping them feel part of the research process as well as the research outputs.
The easy-read approach promotes co-production in a way that ECRs can adopt in any project involving young people with neurodivergence or even members of the public. Ensuring anyone could understand our research outputs meant everyone felt valued within the research regardless of characteristic. Removing power differential between researchers and participants. Our innovative coproduction approach with the young adults allowed me to explore further things from my own research field of ensuring anyone can understand the information they have been given.
That said, there were limitations to this approach. For example, needing to fit the relevant processes within time constraints presented by the young people we were working with, along with the young adult teams changing as they moved on to continue the next stage of their lives. Another drawback of the easy-read information approach is that it can be seen as infantilising. Further, what makes sense to one person may not make sense to another. However, by consulting the young adults and including them every step of the way, we ensured they would be happy with the output. This included checking throughout that they were happy with the language and presentation used, making sure that the images used were age-appropriate and speaking with trainees both verbally and in written format in an age-appropriate way.
Easy read version
About the author:
Dey Ricketts is a Practice-based PhD candidate at the University of Leeds examining interactions and intersections between life writing, social care, and medical humanities. She previously studied her BA in Creative Writing and English Language, PGCE, and MA in Education with the University of Wolverhampton. Dey has had a wealth of experience teaching and communicating with children and adults who are neurodiverse due to her professions as a teacher, a consultant, and a support worker along with having her own neurodiversity. Due to her care experience, Dey understands the importance of having access to records that are free from jargon and easy to understand.
References:
Mencap. “Easy Read.” Mencap, 2024. https://www.mencap.org.uk/easy-read.
