Article about Lived Experience

[A Former User]

I found it very interesting.

http://bit.ly/2qZ4CZk

Most care leavers say they survived the system... I survived because of the system

At a conference in September 2016, Áine Kelly was telling a group of academics about her work. She is studying for a PhD at the University of Oxford, where she focuses on the health experiences of children and young people in care. But when she happened to mention that her interest had started because she herself had grown up in care, the tone of the conversation changed.

The respect given to a fellow academic instantly evaporated and she found herself being talked down to. One of them asked her if she thought extra allowances had been made for her to get into Oxford. She laughs now, but this exchange still rankles. Why should anyone think that experience of the care system makes a person any less able to study it? And, more importantly, to change it for the better?