The aim of this paper is to encourage debate about the use of creative visual approaches in intellectual disability research and discussion about Internet publication of photographs. Image-based research with people with intellectual disability is explored within the contexts of tighter ethical regulation of social research, increased interest in the use of visual methodologies, and rapid escalation in the numbers of digital images posted on the World Wide Web. Concern is raised about the possibility that tighter ethical regulation of social research, combined with the multitude of ethical issues raised by the use of image-based approaches may be discouraging the use of creative visual approaches in intellectual disability research. Inclusion in research through the use of accessible research methods is also an ethical issue, particularly in relation to those people who have hitherto been underrepresented in research. Visual approaches which have the potential to include people with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities are also discussed.

Accessible summary• People with learning disabilities who do not use speech are often left out of research.• Ways of doing research which do not use words (for example, using photographs) might make it easier for them to join in. • Ethics committees decide if plans for research projects are good enough.• It is important for ethics committees to stop people from being hurt by research.But they also need to know about the positive things that can happen for people with learning disabilities who get involved in research. • This article explains what happened when Martha (not her real name), a woman with learning disabilities who did not use speech, got involved in a research project at the hostel where she lived. • We hope this article will help researchers and ethics committees think about the positive things that can happen when people with learning disabilities get involved in research. SummaryAlthough there is increasing interest in service user involvement in research, such involvement rarely extends to people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. New developments in visual methodologies offer the potential for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to be included in research. At the same time, however, tighter regulation of the UK Research Governance Framework and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 have increased the complexity of ethical approval processes. In reaching decisions about whether or not to grant approval, ethics committees are obliged to consider the potential harm to research participants and also the potential benefits. This article documents the benefits of involvement for 'Martha', who participated in a research project using photographic methods at the hostel where she lived. We hope the article will stimulate debate about ethical approval and the use of creative methodologies in research with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.Keywords Profound and multiple learning disabilities, research ethics, research methods, visual methods ª

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This paper explores non-relinquishing birth parents' experiences of contested child care and adoption proceedings. It highlights the perceptions and voices of birth parents which are rarely prioritised in dominant discourses of professional practice in this area. The paper reviews previous related research and also discusses a small scale empirical study which elicited the perspectives of three birth parents whose children had been made subject to care proceedings and placed for adoption in England. Drawing on previous research and this study, the paper makes range of practice recommendations for sensitive professional practice with birth parents during contested child care and adoption proceedings. IntroductionThis paper reviews research related to non-relinquishing birth parents' experiences of child care and adoption proceedings. Whereas previous important work (for example, Charlton et al 1998) has looked at the emotional impact of losing a child to adoption, this paper extends that discussion by exploring the practice implications of previous research in this area and a small-scale empirical research project which explored birth parents' experiences of contested child care and adoption proceedings. The Children Act 1989 is clear that the welfare of the child is paramount. The corollary of this is that where there are concerns about a child's welfare, the needs of birth parents must always be secondary to those of their child; this does not mean however that birth parents' needs should be disregarded (GSCC 2010). Our aim in this paper is to highlight birth parents' perspectives on childcare and adoption proceedings and to consider the implications of those perspectives for professional practice; in doing this however we do not wish to suggest that birth parents' needs should ever take precedence over of those of their child(ren).

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