Invisible Touch was an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between touch and care. You can explore images, audio, and touch diaries that share disabled and neurodivergent people’s experiences of receiving and giving care. Invisible Touch centred the knowledge of those of us who draw on care and revealed the many roles touch plays in our lives.
Jess Thom of Touretteshero hosts Invisible Touch, which is the final event in the Feeling Our Way series.
As a disabled person who requires constant support, I get touched a lot. I’m lifted, washed, squeezed, pushed, soothed, and sometimes restrained. Physical support plays a central role in my life, but this type of touch is often invisible, either because it’s routine and gets overlooked, or because it’s so unfamiliar that it doesn’t get considered at all.
You can download a visual story describing this event.
You can download an easy-read description of this series of events.
Explore the Invisible Touch Trail online via infographic-style touch diaries and portraits. These were created by five disabled and neurodivergent collaborators. Their experiences of giving and receiving care draw attention to the complexities and possibilities of care in new ways.
Download and use the Drawn to Touch activity sheet to inspire you to think about how touch and care are important to you.
Download and use the Feeling Our Way activity book to explore your relationship with touch.
Use the live-scribed illustration created by artist Amber Anderson to reflect on some of the topics, statements and questions from the Talking Touch discussion.
Reading Room
Reading Room
Reading Room
Reading Room
Viewing Room
This is a large-scale event with several different activities. Check specific sub-events for their locations.
Just turn up to this event. It's likely to have room for everyone.
This event is wheelchair friendly, which means that it has been actively designed for participation by people who use wheelchairs.
This is a relaxed event, which means that if you need to, you are welcome to move around and make noise at any time.
If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 0 2 0. 7 6 1 1. 2 2 2 2
Artist, activist and part-time superhero, Jess Thom co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with Tourette’s syndrome. She has written in the mainstream and disability press, including the Guardian, the Observer and Disability Now, and has been a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow.
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