Johanna Knebel

Profile

I am a second year PhD student in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds.

My doctoral project aims to contribute to the design of inclusive, accessible, and meaningful sexuality education by exploring the involvement of people with learning difficulties as peers into the development and delivery of sexuality education. My doctoral research is supported by the 1+3 WRDTP (White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership) studentship funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). As part of the studentship, I graduated with a first-class degree in Social Research (Interdisciplinary) from the University of Leeds in 2023.

In my research, I critically reflect on my own professional background in special education through a disability studies lens. My interdisciplinary background allows me not only to bridge German and English-speaking research and practice on inclusive (sexuality) education for and by people with learning difficulties but also special education and disability studies.
I graduated with a first-class degree in Disability Studies from the University of Leeds in 2022 supported by a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Leeds Excellence Scholarship for International Students.

I am also an active member of the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS) at the University of Leeds. As one of the representatives of the postgraduate researchers, I am particularly committed to community building amongst PGRs at the University of Leeds and beyond, nationally as well as globally.

Research interests

My doctoral research investigates the involvement of adults with learning difficulties as peers (e.g., peer counsellors) in sexuality education in Germany with the aim to strengthen the evidence base for sexuality education for and by people with learning difficulties. My objective is to explore whether and how practice can align with disabled people’s right to (participation in) sexuality education (United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN CRPD) art. 23 – right to marriage, parenthood, family, and relationships and art. 24 – right to inclusive education.

In Germany, people with learning difficulties remain systematically excluded not only from accessing comprehensive knowledge on sexuality and relationships but also from producing knowledge in sexuality education. Sexuality education is predominantly facilitated by non-disabled professionals for people with learning difficulties. People with learning difficulties are commonly not involved in the development and delivery of sexuality education due to being viewed as cognitively and sexually incapable of embodying sexuality due to their impairment.

Peer (counselling) approaches challenge these dis/ableist presumptions by positioning people with learning difficulties as experts in their own interests according to the leitmotif of the Independent Living Movement “Nothing about us, without us”.

My research, therefore, aims to highlight that people with learning difficulties are capable of both sexuality (education) and knowledge production therein. This will contribute to developing and delivering sexuality education for and by people with learning difficulties to realise their right to inclusive education (art. 24 UN CRPD) and right to marriage, parenthood, family, and relationships (art. 23 UN CRPD). Overall, I aim to challenge ableist assumptions about sexuality (education) and people with learning difficulties more broadly.

I will combine a realist evaluation approach (Emmel et al., 2018) with a dyadic interviewing approach (Caldwell, 2014) incorporating visual and creative research methods on the experiences and perspectives of peer counsellors with learning difficulties, their co-workers without learning difficulties, and end-users.

Further research interests:

• Disability Studies
• Feminist Disability Studies
• Sexuality Studies
• Sexuality (education)
• Inclusive Education
• Deinstitutionalisation
• Inclusive Research
• Creative Methods

Qualifications

• MA Social Research (Interdisciplinary), University of Leeds
• MA Disability Studies, University of Leeds
• MA Special Education, University of Erfurt

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Disability Studies