Background:
Article 12 of the United Nations Conventions of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989) and Article 7 (3) of the United Nations Conventions of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD 2006) set out the rights for all children to be heard and for their opinions to be given due weight in all matters concerning them. However, children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often left unheard, as they are frequently excluded from decision-making process.

Research Aim:
This study explored the experiences and perspectives of students with ID in mainstream post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. It aimed to understand if these experiences were barriers or facilitators to participation in the life of the school, including participation in decision-making processes.

Data Collection:
Thirteen students with ID from four post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland participated in this research. Underpinned by Lundy’s Model of Participation (2007), Photovoice was utilised as the main method of data collection. Photovoice is an inclusive, visual participatory research method, which supports participants to document their lived experience through photography. Photographs supported participants to voice their experience of participating in decision-making in their schools. This was explored through students’ experiences of choice in learning activities, examples of when they made decisions, and aspects of school they would like to change.

Key Findings:
Findings reveal that although students had the ability to reflect on themselves, their strengths, needs and accommodations necessary for them to succeed, this knowledge was not harnessed by teachers or utilised by schools. Furthermore, students in this study had low perceived levels of influence on decision-making processes in their schools. These findings have important implications for policy and practice concerning the rights of children with ID to participate in decision- making related to education provision.

Conclusion:
Although the Government of Ireland ratified the UNCRC in 1992 and UNCRPD 2018 it can be concluded that the voices of children with ID continue to remain silenced in many schools. For this to change there needs to be a programme of awareness for all those working with children to understand the implications of the UNCRC and UNCRPD. Furthermore, school staff need continuing professional development (CPD) on how they can elicit the voices of students with ID to support their participation in decision-making in schools.

Keywords: Children's rights, student voice, intellectual disabilities, Photovoice, decision-making, inclusion, children's participation in research.