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CD Storage unit 

When? Saturday Where? Bedroom Who? David What? CD storage unit How? CD discs Why? Hobby

Going to group

We asked Mike when his favourite time of day was. Mike said the morning, because that’s when he goes to his arts group.

Stereo

I hear CDs. I smell cooking. I see trains. I taste foods. I touch Waltons DVD. I feel happy. 

Trains

I like trains. Building them up on the table. And taking out garden making bigger. In 00 gauge my layout.

Cooking

I like cooking. I don’t do it very often. I would like to do more. 

My fiancé Simon

We have been engaged for a long time. We had an engagement party. It was good – presents, cards, disco. Our first dance was ‘Time of my life’. We moved in together in September. 

Emily

She has short hair and glasses. She’s a good friend and my maid of honour. I met her at our drama club. She’s an actor as well. She likes the same TV as me, like ‘I’m a Celebrity’ and ‘Saturday Takeaway’. She’s a good friend and lovely and kind. I call her on the house phone.  

Football stickers 

It’s my Tottenham FC Football sticker album. I do this on my own in the mornings in the living room. It makes me happy doing my stickers. It helps me calm down. 

Shopping bags 

We go shopping one day a week. On a Saturday. I go out to buy all stuff, like food. I like shopping at Sainsburys. I decide myself what to buy. Mine is the purple one.  

Decorating

What can we see here? The wall. What is really happening here? It needs painting. The paint’s coming off the wall. It’s broken. What can we do about it? Paint it! I can ask the staff.

Happy hour 

I play with my CD mix every day at 10am in the morning. It is in my bedroom. I play music for everyone in the house. It makes me feel happy. It is my hobby. My favourite time of the week is ‘happy hour’. It is 4pm on Friday when I DJ in my room. I play music on my own, but people can listen. It’s a way to relax at the end of the week. 

Guitar

I play my guitar when I’m not DJing. I play my guitar in my room and in the cabin. I play it on my own. It’s another hobby. Same as my pool table. I bought this guitar It makes me feel happy. I am creating. I play chords and make up songs in my head.

Pool Table

I’ve been playing pool and snooker for a long time. Pool has numbers on and with snooker you have red, brown, yellow, green, pink, and black. I play with people I live with.

Coke Fridge

When people put the coke in my fridge. Julia puts them in my fridge. She is the manager.

Julia

It’s important to have to a good house manager because it makes my life easier. I think Julia is a good manager because she speaks to me nicely. She helps me to have independence. I can have a joke with her - this is really important to me.

Ellen

Everybody misses her. She used to live with us. When I’m in the lounge there is a place for her, and I think about what she is doing. She is looking down on us. 

My place at the table

Molly told us who sat where around the table. She said it was important to have her own place.

My housemate in the garden

Molly has taken photos of her housemate in their garden who she has known for a long time.

My housemate in the garden

She recently got a walking stick and says now rarely uses the garden. “I won’t try it. I don’t know where I’m going to put my feet”. She would prefer a slope instead of steps to get onto the lawn.

My housemate in the garden

Remembering

Remembering how I was.

My Cuddly Toys

It’s part of my past. Big teddy is what my boyfriend bought me. My other housemate gave me one, and I bought one. And my keyworker also gave me one. They make me feel special because they remind me that I’m cared about.

My friend Helen

In the living room. I like being in here as it is comfortable, and it was happy times. This photo was taken at what was my home. It is a picture of my friend. We went out together. 

My bedroom floor 

This is not a home to me. It’s OK but there’s not enough space in my room. I’ve got things everywhere in this bedroom. I’m not really happy about it but I put up with it. I would like a bigger room. I’ve got lots of stuff. When I moved, I didn’t want to get rid of it. It’s my stuff. There was no choice for me. I had to move as they closed the house. I am thinking of getting myself a shed. I can’t put shelves up here. They don’t have shelves in these houses. Even at my other house. 

Expanding my creativity

It’s only the last few months I’ve started to get into colouring and creative things. I stopped when my sister died. This is a picture I did at my computer class.

Cuddly toys 

I have loads of cuddly toys and cuddly teddy bears. They help me feel at home because I love my cuddly toys so much, I cuddle them in the night–time when I go to bed. My sister gave me the dolly a long time ago. And she gave me a Cabbage Patch dolly. It’s in my box in my bedroom.  
Woman in purple t shirt holding up a camera in front of her face, and pointing it at the person taking this photo. The background is mostly browns and creams; there is a TV on behind her.

Georgia

Georgia is my best friend. I feel happy when I see her. It helps me to feel calm. 

Bed

I like my bed so much. I chose my bedding. I don’t spend much time here relaxing. I spend it in the front room.  

Dressing table

When I done this play a long time ago with Hugh Grant it felt amazing. When I was on stage doing this play with Hugh Grant, I was screaming I was. I like him. I am proud of this. And then I’m doing another play in July at Putney Arts Centre.

Doing my scrapbook

I do a lot of art work I do. I like drawing pictures and putting stickers in my sticker book. I like doing colouring. It helps me to feel happy and relaxed. I do it when I finish at the day centre about 3 o’clock. Then I come back here and do it. I have been doing it for a long time.

Gate

I hear and see cars. I touch the wooden gate. I feel alright.  I wait for Deborah.

Kitchen

I do the washing in the kitchen. I do it myself now. I like doing it myself.

Basket

This is in my bedroom. I like watching Carry on Films and listening to CDs. I listen to my CDs on my CD player. I’ve got them in my bag. These are my photos of my friends in frames. I am going to put them on the wall in my bedroom.
Corridor with white walls, white door, door open to bathroom which is all white. Floor is grey. There is a mirror or picture on the wall at the end of the corridor. There are some fire escape signs on the wall.

Hallway

I took this photo myself. It’s outside the office.
Small front yard with bins and bike. Looks onto trees.

Kitchen Door

I spend time out here sweeping up.

Feeling at Home

King’s College London
57 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8WA

Contact

0207 848 3636
deborah.chinn@kcl.ac.uk

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Esther Springett

I am an advocate for my sister who has a learning disability and has lived in residential group homes. I am interested in how we make inclusive spaces which lead to greater visibility for people with complex support needs in social, civic and cultural life. I am a co-director of one of Feeling at Home’s project partners Quiet Down There who are developing the Feeling at Home photovoice exhibition, which opens in July 2022 in, Brighton. Quiet Down There specialises in amplifying the everyday and believe that culture is everywhere and everyone creates culture in their own way. They create and support environments where individuals, artists and communities can articulate and develop their own culture – making the invisible visible.

Dr Tony Levitan

I have worked in the NHS as a psychologist for nearly 10 years. My work has mainly been with adults and children with learning disabilities, helping people have a good quality of life.

Over the years I have visited people in their homes where people have staff support. This has made me think about how to help people feel more at home where they live. I am really interested in how people with learning disabilities can be more involved in health and social care services. In my clinical role, I have worked alongside people with learning disabilities to co-facilitate groups to support people with their mental health.

I am really excited to work on the Feeling at Home project and hope it will help people with learning disabilities and their supporters work together to make positive changes to their homes.

Dr Katy Brickley

I am the Research Assistant on the Feeling at Home project. I have a background in making and researching accessible information: I am interested in how it is produced and used.  My previous research looked at linguistic and communicative issues in return migration for asylum seekers and irregular migrants. I focused on barriers to people giving informed consent in this multilingual environment. I have produced training for advice staff working with refugees to understand what communication barriers might exist in their work and what strategies they can use to overcome them. In my spare time, I work as an Easy Read translator, translating complex information into Easy Read to make it accessible for people with learning disabilities.

Dr Deborah Chinn

For many years I worked as a clinical psychologist for the NHS in community teams for people with learning disabilities.  These days I work in a university helping train NHS staff and researchers. My own research is about the everyday lives of people with learning disabilities, and the services they get from the NHS and social services. I hope that my research can help improve these services, so that people with learning disabilities, their staff, and families can get the help and support that they deserve.  My job in the ‘Feeling at Home’ project is to lead the research team and make sure that we complete all the tasks to make sure the project is a success.

Shalim Ali

I work as an Expert by Experience and Quality Checker for Choice Support – a charity that supports people with autism, learning disabilities, and mental health needs. I also have experience living in group homes with other people with learning disabilities. I’m really excited about bringing all this experience and my ideas to the project. I am a trustee for Heart ‘n Soul, a creative arts organisation for people with learning disabilities, and am a member of Learning Disability England Ideas Collective. I am really committed to supporting others with learning disabilities to have a voice.

Dr Andrew Power

I am an Associate Professor in Geography at the University of Southampton, and a co-researcher on the project. I am interested in research on personalisation and care in times of austerity. I have a track record of working inclusively alongside disabled people, using participatory methods including photovoice and arts-based activities. I have led recent research projects examining how people with learning disabilities are building meaningful lives in their communities with peer support and self-advocacy initiatives