Shoppers in Bangor may have noticed a series of unusual looking stools with headphones in various places around the city centre in recent weeks. They share stories from the lives of people with a learning disability as part of the Our Social Networks project (OSN). OSN is a National Lottery Heritage Fund project run by Mencap Cymru.
The project seeks to shine a fresh light on how people with a learning disability are supported to experience friendships and relationships.
The team have conducted oral histories with 50 people with a learning disability discussing their friendships and romantic relationships. The stories detail the positive and negative aspects of navigating love and friendship when you have a learning disability. Uncovering tales of people with a learning disability being given support to understand the benefits and pitfalls of a romantic relationship.
The oral histories also explore some of the barriers that people face, including a lack of staff availability and people’s attitudes to the idea of disabled people having intimate relationships.
The exhibition highlights that people with a learning disability are less likely to be in any kind of relationship. They are not seen as people able to express themselves sexually. The exhibition aims to help increase awareness and start a conversation around how we can all better support people with a learning disability to have active social lives and express themselves.
The audio pods will be in Bangor until Thursday 30th April before they move on to Cardiff in June and July. The project has also recently launched an app where you can download and listen to the stories at your own leisure.
