American civil rights advocate and professor at Columbia University Kimberlé Crenshaw wasn’t even talking about disability in 1989 when she wrote her paper Demarginalising the Intersection of Race and Sex, in which she coined the term intersectionality. Now a popular framework for social justice, the term intersectionality describes how types of identities overlap to create unique combinations of marginalisation and systems of privilege. The term is intended to challenge conventional ways of thinking by shifting focus to how inequality and discrimination can amalgamate to create new and unique obstacles.
Within this framework, ableism and intellectual ableism can be held as equally responsible for diminishing the voices of those who have these disabilities. It seems that the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID) itself has been a victim of this within the Trinity community; the TCPID is not in the periphery of students and many have little to no knowledge of its existence.
Formerly established as the National Institute for Intellectual Disability in 2004, the Institute offered a Certificate in Contemporary Living through a two year, full-time course for students with intellectual disabilities. This was redesigned in 2016 in order to align with a level five accreditation in the National Framework of Qualifications, the first of its kind to be offered at an Irish university. TCPID has since offered a course of Arts, Science and Inclusive Applied Practice (ASIAP), which aims to equip these students sustainably with skills for life, as well as enhancing their employability.
As the 10th anniversary of the ASIAP programme draws near, Professor Michael Shevlin, Director of Inclusion in Education and Society, shared with Trinity News the ways in which the programme has developed over the years in response to student feedback.
“Key changes include: occupational therapists contributing to the course to enable students to gain insights into their own lives, greater engagement with our business partners to create pathways into employment for our students, and the recent development of co-learning modules that enable our students and their peers in college to engage in a common educational experience. I hope we will continue to evolve and contribute to the development of an inclusive learning environment across college,” Shevlin told Trinity News.
Shevlin emphasised that the long term aspiration of the programme was “for young people who have an intellectual disability [to] have many options post-school to become who they want to be … The programme is designed to provide a broad and rich curriculum, but more than that, we want students to feel like they truly belong at Trinity.”
Tucked next to Parliament House, at the end of Dame Street, TCPID often flies under the radar despite its significant role within College and the contributions it makes to learning from its Research and Innovation Hub. The hub plays a formative role in carrying out influential research, developing policies and practices in education which in turn enhance the structure of programmes such as the ASIAP programme.
“TCPID is not just studying inclusion, it is actively shaping it”
Jennifer Banks, research coordinator at TCPID, told Trinity News: “TCPID is not just studying inclusion, it is actively shaping it. Research at the centre directly informs the ASIAP curriculum, ensuring that it remains relevant, responsive, and forward-thinking.”
Their research prioritises “student success and belonging” and ASIAP graduates are asked to reflect on what success means to them, in order to direct and adapt the conversation about achievement and its metrics in higher education. As Banks affirmed, “collaboration with our students in research is a goal of the centre … Instead of being passive participants or recipients of research, they are working alongside researchers to co-design research initiatives that reflect their real-life experiences, creating a more inclusive campus culture.”
The second year of the programme presents students with the opportunity to embark on a work placement. An enviable prospect to any undergraduate student in the first instance, this opportunity is made more desirable by the plethora of reputable big business names that the TCPID are partnered with, such as Microsoft and Ernst & Young, a multinational consultancy firm. These are just two of more than 50 of the centre’s partners, many of whom have been collaborating with the TCPID for over seven years. With this network growing steadily, these companies offer a variety of placements and internships that have resulted in 29 permanent positions since the business partners programme was launched in 2016.
Brian Higgins, a graduate of the class of 2022, shared with Trinity News how impactful his experience of his internship was and the doors which it opened “I met lots of people and I learnt lots of new things … I’m actually proud of myself, I have a disability and I’m working. I’ve gone on to employment.”
Higgins expressed that he would certainly recommend the programme to anyone interested and particularly endorsed the comprehensive support network. He also reflected on the shortcomings of the Irish state to provide similar supportive initiatives. In his view, “[the] government should do more to help students with intellectual disabilities pay for college and do more for education and employment.”
Much like Trinity College, TCPID is a private institution and the opportunity to attend is not readily available to all. However, the neglect of provision across Ireland for those with disabilities is evidenced by consistent calls from bodies such as the National Disability Services Association for the “prioritisation of disability rights and funding equity”.
Emer Murphy, TCPID’s senior occupational therapist, touched on the transformational power of inclusion when funding (private funding in the case of TCPID) meets the prioritisation of disability rights. TCPID’s business partnership programme is an excellent example of this. “For people with intellectual disabilities, imagining themselves in different roles or work environments is challenging, but by entering these spaces and experiencing meaningful work allows them to collaborate with a team, take on responsibilities, and prove to themselves and others that they are capable,” Murphy told Trinity News.
“When businesses employ people with intellectual disabilities, they shatter stereotypes and redefine possibilities”
Murphy concisely summarised the transformative impact of TCPID’s internships, and by extension the programme itself, saying that: “When businesses employ people with intellectual disabilities, they shatter stereotypes and redefine possibilities.” The result of this is that TCPID and their students are quite literally dismantling discriminatory structures each and every day. Crenshaw would be proud, and College should be too.
This is how she summarised the transformative impact of TCPID’s internships, and by extension the programme itself. The result of this is that TCPID and their students are quite literally dismantling discriminatory structures each and every day. Crenshaw would be proud, and College should be too.
