Below you’ll find details about the 2 day conference program, featuring international keynote presentations and a number of breakout sessions.
The ASID 2026 conference will have:
- Presentations by international keynote speakers
- Breakout sessions on key topics like employment, health, criminal justice, parenting, housing and support, decision making and building inclusive communities.
Attendees will hear about new ideas, learn from research, discuss contested policy issues, and share fresh thoughts. Everyone will leave with new ideas and connections to make a positive difference.
MEET THE KEYNOTES
Good communication support for adults with learning disabilities in social care settings
Professor Jill Bradshaw | Professor of Communication Health and Social Care, University of Birmingham
Monday, 19 October 2026
9:15am – 10am
This keynote will cover what we mean by good support for communication for people with severe to profound learning disabilities and what is needed for implementation. It will draw on the findings of a realist review of good communication with adults with learning disabilities in long-term care settings and subsequent development of a theory of change to improve the implementation of communication support. The views of people with learning disabilities and their paid and family carers will be highlighted. The implementation barriers and facilitators will be explored. The focus of the session will be on how good support for communication could be implemented through practice leadership, collaborative working between speech and language therapists and paid and family carers and strong organisational alignment with the communication rights of adults with learning disabilities.
Professor Jill Bradshaw
Professor of Communication Health and Social Care, University of Birmingham
About Professor Jill Bradshaw
Professor and Co-Director of the Tizard Centre at the University of Kent, with a career spanning clinical practice, teaching and research in intellectual disability. Originally trained as a Speech and Language Therapist, she has extensive experience working with adults with intellectual disabilities in social care settings. Jill returned to academia after a career break and progressed through senior academic roles, becoming Professor in 2023 and joining the Intellectual Disabilities Research Institute in 2025. Alongside her academic work, she continues clinical practice and holds national advisory and consultant roles in speech and language therapy.
Tihei “Mauri” Ora
Dr Kelly Tikao | Senior Lecturer, Centre for Postgraduate Nursing, and Māori Indigenous Health Innovation, University of Otago
Monday, 19 October 2026
10am – 10:30am
This kōrero centres Māori living with intellectual disability and their whānau. Using Kaupapa Māori methodology, whānau voices and self-portraits, IHC, Kōtātā Insight and the Donald Beasley Institute explore transitions across chronological and cultural milestones, both expected and unforeseen.
Central to this work is whānau who place their member at the heart of collective effort. “Mauri is our mauri, he is the life force of our whānau, and we work around his needs, everything flows out from Mauri,” says Kaye, māmā of 22-year-old Mauri. This reflects the UNCRPD’s strengths-based, whole-person approach.
The research also grounds stark realities: Māori with intellectual disabilities face the highest NEET rates (49.5%), lowest life expectancy, and higher rates of COPD (10.6%) and psychotic disorders. Yet among the 25% of Māori children with intellectual disabilities not living with birth parents, those within wider whānau retain a deep sense of belonging.
Mauri, Kaye and sister Ana share their cultural transition points with lead Māori researcher Dr Kelly Tikao — a partnership modelling advocacy toward understanding, healing and liberation for tangata whaikaha and their whānau.
Dr Kelly Tikao
Senior registered nurse and academic at the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies and Māori Indigenous Health Institute
About Dr Kelly Tikao
Senior registered nurse and academic at the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies and Māori Indigenous Health Institute, with over 20 years’ experience across diverse health settings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her background spans community and clinical care, including medical, surgical, neurology, public health and mental health services. Kelly has worked across both secondary healthcare systems and primary hauora Māori organisations, bringing a holistic and culturally grounded approach to her work. Deeply connected to her marae and whānau, she integrates cultural knowledge and values into both her professional and personal life.
Co-Presenter Mauri Tū Kaha Mananui Gray
Passionate advocate for disability rights, particularly for Māori living with complex physical disabilities
About Mauri Tū Kaha Mananui Gray
Mauri Tū Kaha Mananui Gray (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Rāngitane, Ngāti Porou, Kahungunu, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Taamanuhiri).
Mauri Gray is a 22-year-old self-advocate with tetraplegic cerebral palsy resulting from a birth injury. He is non-verbal and lives with the love and support of his māmā (Kaye) and a large, close-knit whānau. Following the passing of his pāpā (Rev. Maurice Manawaroa Gray) in 2021, Mauri and his whānau have continued to navigate life’s transitions together, drawing strength from their relationships, culture, and shared experiences.
Mauri communicates his lived experience through the people who know him best. At this presentation, he will be supported by his māmā, Kaye, and his sister, Ana, who will help share his story.
They advocate for the importance of whānau-centred approaches that recognise communication in its many forms, honour identity and culture, and support meaningful participation for people with intellectual disability and complex disabilities, and their whānau.
Mauri is proud to contribute his experiences to help inform practice, strengthen understanding, and encourage more inclusive and responsive support for individuals and whānau.
From darkness to light: Reflecting on, reimagining, and realising a life free of exploitation, violence and abuse for people with a learning disability in Aotearoa New Zealand
Brigit Mirfin-Veitch | Donald Beasley Institute & Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka/University of Otago
Tuesday, 20 October 2026
3:30pm – 4:15pm
Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities says disabled people have the right to lives free of exploitation, violence and abuse. Brigit, Paul and Desrae will talk about the journey towards eliminating violence and abuse from the lives of people with intellectual disabilities (people with a learning disability) in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Brigit will reflect on the key messages from two research projects – one that was designed to learn about past experiences of abuse of people with intellectual disabilities, and one that was designed to learn about their experiences of trying to access violence response services.
Paul will talk about how New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care (RCOI) provides a way to reimagine a life free of abuse and violence for people with intellectual disabilities, and what it will take to get there.
Desrae will talk about growing voices and safety through an innovative service called People for Us. Led by Ngā Tāngata Tuatahi – People First New Zealand. People for Us is centred on the knowledge and skills of people with intellectual disabilities ( learning disability). This service offers peer visiting to people living in residential services. Visits focus on whether people are well supported, safe and making their own decisions. Desrae will tell us how People for Us is assisting to realise the rights of people with intellectual disabilities to a life free from violence and abuse.
Associate Professor Brigit Mirfin-Veitch
Research Associate Professor with the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka/University of Otago & Donald Beasley Institute
About Associate Professor Brigit Mirfin-Veitch
Research Associate Professor at the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies and Director of the Donald Beasley Institute, with a strong sociological focus on the lives of people with intellectual disability. Her research explores health and wellbeing, access to justice, and parenting, with a commitment to driving social change through evidence-based work. Brigit is highly experienced in qualitative and transformative research, as well as sector-wide evaluation, education, and advisory roles. She also holds an adjunct role at Deakin University and supervises multiple PhD candidates in disability-related research.
Co-Presenter Paul Gibson
New Zealand’s first dedicated Disability Rights Commissioner
About Paul Gibson
New Zealand’s first dedicated Disability Rights Commissioner, appointed in 2011, Paul has played a leading role in disability rights advocacy in Aotearoa New Zealand. He chaired the Disability Caucus of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and served as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care and Faith-Based Institutions between 2018 and 2024, contributing to the landmark final report “Whanaketia.” Paul currently works with VisAble and other organisations on violence, abuse and neglect prevention and response. He is proudly a disabled person, a husband, and a father.
Co-Presenter Desrae Turvey (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pourou)
Member, Ngā Tāngata Tuatahi – People First New Zealand
About Desrae Turvey
A passionate advocate for the rights of people with a learning disability, Desrae has been a member of Ngā Tāngata Tuatahi – People First New Zealand for over 20 years. She currently serves as Vice-President of the Ashburton Local Group, MidSouth Regional President, and Chair of the People First National Committee. Desrae is also a member of the Disabled Peoples’ Organisations Coalition and sits on the Board of Te Pou Waiora. Drawing on her own experience of living in residential services, Desrae is driven by a firm belief that people must have genuine choice and control over their own lives.
