Dr Mary Wickenden is a disability researcher, with a particular interest in inclusive and participatory research and in hearing the voices of adults and children with disabilities and their families, especially those living in the global south or in disadvantaged contexts.

She initially trained as a speech/language therapist in the UK, working with families with children with severe disabilities. She subsequently trained in medical and social anthropology, her PhD focussing on identity and agency for teenagers with severe disabilities and little or no speech.

She has worked extensively on disability related research, intervention and training projects in South Asia, East and Southern Africa. She believes strongly in the importance of inclusive approaches to international development research and service provision and in the recognition of the equal rights of adults and children with disabilities globally. Recent projects have focussed on: disabled people’s experiences of gender based violence, disabled children’s evaluations of inclusive education, participatory impact evaluation of community based rehabilitation programmes and the lives of carers looking after disabled people.