Belonging and exclusion in the lives of young people with intellectual disability in small town communities

The aim of this research was to investigate the lived experiences of belonging and felt exclusion for young people with intellectual disability living in regional (small town) communities. This article focuses on the findings from the project about how the young people’s experiences of connections to place, space and people influenced their felt sense of belonging and exclusion, and from this, implications for developing social policy which is more responsive to their priorities and lived experience.