People with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) are some of the most marginalised in society and are perceived to lack agency.This paper contests such a narrative, presenting findings from an innovative project in Scotland, UK, exploring the impact of artists working collaboratively with people with PMLD and their formal carers.Art is conceived Accessories as a social practice, a process, an embodied aesthetic and sensory experience that takes place between individuals.Theoretically, the paper adopts an original approach, combining crip theory, the capability approach and social pedagogy to re-imagine and re-position people with PMLD.
The year-long qualitative Coffee Tables study used data from reflective diaries (n = 111) and semi-structured interviews (n = 9) with artists, carers and management of a day centre.An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of these shared experiences was used.The results reveal an unsettling of prevailing norms and creative ways of doing and experiencing social care that is relational.