Dr Martina Smith

My research intersects at the disciplinary boundaries of critical psychology, critical disability studies and disabled children’s childhood studies. I am particularly interested in creative and other ways of doing research beyond rigid methodological confines. My doctoral thesis Political Love and SpaceTime Disturbances: Reimagining Parenting and Disabled Childhoods Beyond Neoliberal and Developmental Discourses makes trouble for the way these discourses construct the lives of parents of disabled children and perpetuate normative childhood development ideologies. I am currently working with Professor Katherine Runswick-Cole (University of Sheffield) and Professor Sara Ryan (MMU) on an NIHR project Tired of Spinning Plates: An exploration of the mental health experiences of adults/older carers of adults with learning disabilities. I am also a parent-carer to my eldest child who has complex epilepsy and learning disabilities.