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Participation, voice and control have long been central concerns in the research at Norah Fry. This paper focuses on inclusive research relating to choice and control, as experienced by people with learning disabilities who use personal budgets and direct payments, and aims to question how the process of inclusive research can be linked to wider outcomes. The paper gives a brief overview of two studies carried out by Norah Fry Research Centre, which were in partnership with self-advocacy groups and employed people with learning disabilities, between 1999 and 2007. Both in research and in everyday life, we question individual notions of "choice and control", showing how relational autonomy was at the heart, both of the process of the inclusive research and also of the outcomes and findings. However, all social research seems to have greatest impact when there is a "bandwagon effect" of policy and practice initiatives. The discussion considers how the impact of inclusive research designs can be at policy, practice and "direct" user level and is often achieved by people with learning disabilities having a voice at the dissemination stage.

For people with learning disabilities to have control over their lives, the quality of their support staff matters. This paper reports on an inclusive research study, which used video analysis to study the communication skills of personal assistants (PAs) who worked with people with learning disabilities. The findings reveal some of the fine detail in the strategies these PAs used, to show respect, support choices, and give advice. They were able to step back, to listen and observe the person with learning disabilities, and to use good, open body language. They also gave people time, built up a close relationship based on shared interests and activities, and they talked with people in a friendly, adult way. It is difficult to support people to manage their lives, and team work is important. People with learning disabilities also have to play their role in the relationship. This research produced training materials that will help people with learning disabilities to train and support their own PAs. (Contains 1 table and 8 extracts.)