The Matrix of Support: How to Build a Structure of Support for Meaningful Participation and Leadership in a Research Project

The Matrix of Support provides details of how the 'No Research About Us, Without Us: Removing Research Barriers for People with Learning Disabilities' project created a structure of support to provide the scaffolding that allowed our team members with learning disabilities to [1] contribute to the strategic direction and aims of the project, [2] inform the design of the project activities, [3] shape the delivery of the project's meetings and decision making processes, [4] prepare for the team meetings to contribute meaningfully and [5] reflect on the way the project was being run and make suggestions for changes. An evaluation of the implementation of this tool can be found in the project report. The Matrix of Support was designed by the project team in the early stages of the project to outline an agreement on how we wanted to work. We hope that teams who intend to conduct research, or conduct consultation with people with a learning disability, find the illustration of the steps we took useful to think about how to plan and cost for meaningful inclusion; because it takes time and resources if you want to get it right.