Lincoln Bishop University lecturer shares inclusive research at national TES SEND Show

This October, Lincoln Bishop University lecturer, Lori Hall, shared her research on inclusive communication, learning disabilities, and the importance of listening beyond words with a national audience of education professionals at the TES SEND Show in London.

The TES SEND Show brings together teachers, SENCOs, school leaders, researchers and specialist professionals to explore developments in special educational needs and disability practice.

Lori Hall, Lecturer in Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI), delivered a session titled Hearing Beyond Words: Inclusive Research and the Power of Voice in SEND Practice. The session explored how educators, researchers and professionals can think differently about voice, communication and participation, particularly when working alongside people who do not communicate primarily through spoken language.

Drawing on her doctoral research, known as the Sunflower Project, Lori shared how inclusive, arts-based approaches can create opportunities for people with learning disabilities to contribute to research in ways that recognise their own forms of communication, relationships and experiences.

The project, undertaken across three-day services with adults with learning disabilities, has involved participants in creative research activities exploring friendship, belonging and the importance of relationships. Rather than relying solely on conventional interviews, the research has used artwork, conversations, observation and shared activities to explore experiences that might otherwise be overlooked.

As part of the session, Lori also introduced the Sunflower Toolkit, developed through the research, which offers a creative and accessible approach to exploring people's experiences and supporting participation.

Speaking about the event, Lori said: "I absolutely loved delivering this session. So much of my work is about questioning what we think listening looks like and recognising that communication is far more than spoken words. We often talk about giving people a voice, but people already have voices. Our responsibility is to create the conditions for those voices to be heard, recognised, and taken seriously.

"One of the things I wanted people to take away was the idea of being a microphone, not the voice of somebody else. We need to be careful that, even with the very best intentions, we don't end up speaking for people when we should be making space for them to contribute in their own way.

"The Sunflower Project has taught me an enormous amount, not only about research but about relationships, belonging and the assumptions we make about people with learning disabilities. Being able to share that learning with professionals who can take those ideas back into their own settings is exactly what I hoped the research would achieve."

Following the event, one attendee, a specialist children's occupational therapist, publicly described Lori's session as her personal highlight of the show. Her reflections highlighted two messages from the presentation: "Be a microphone, not the voice of children and families with SEND" and "Intellectual humility is methodological integrity." The feedback also recognised how the Sunflower Toolkit and creative research approaches could encourage professionals to reflect on their own practice.

For Lori, whose teaching at Lincoln Bishop University draws extensively on research, professional practice and lived experience, this connection between academic knowledge and everyday practice is particularly important.

Lori's contribution reflects Lincoln Bishop University's commitment to connecting teaching, research and professional practice, and supporting conversations that can influence inclusive approaches beyond the university.

Ready to discover more? To find out more about SENDI at Lincoln Bishop, please click here.