Longitudinal Cohort Ethnography in Kerala

Since 2019, this study has followed 30 adults with intellectual disabilities and their families in Kozhikode - a city in the South Indian state of Kerala.

The cohort  includes many kinds of intersectional diversity:

• individual: age, gender, and type of disability
• religion: Christian, Hindu, and Muslim
• caste: scheduled, non-scheduled, and OBC
• kinship structure: nuclear and extended, matrilineal and patrilineal
• familial socio-economic status, including occupation and education
• resource access: healthcare, state welfare, and NGO provision

The project examines how families construct everyday care, what adulthoods are possible for people with intellectual disabilities,and how families and people with intellectual disabilities age together.

Researchers

Patrick McKearney

Sabeer VC

Research Partners

Dr Jayaraj MK, UL-Care

University of Calicut

Outputs

McKearney, Patrick. 2024. “Structuring Care in Kerala.” Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad.

McKearney, Patrick. 2025. “Intellectual Disability? Life-Courses in Kerala.” in Tracing Neurodiversity in the Global South. University of Vienna.