Rethinking how people with cognitive disability complain

Policy reforms in Australia aim to facilitate the choice and control of people with cognitive disability about their paid support, yet little is known about how they complain within their support relationships. The study applied recognition theory to data from interviews using creative methods (photos and art) with 11 pairs of people with support and their chosen workers about their reactions when they did not like something. People complained using a variety and combination of words, actions and omissions. Workers often did not notice or interpret people’s reactions as complaining. The findings suggest that supporting a person to complain requires approaching the relationship as one of mutual recognition that seeks ways to express a need for change. If support workers and organisations more broadly conceptualised complaining by people with cognitive disability as including reactions when they do not like something, they could be more likely to notice and respond.