As most of you reading this know, Fionnathan Productions is an innovative, son-and-father led, community driven project exploring how far we can go toward creating for and with Fionn a ‘great life’ (as he defines it). And now, another year of remarkable accomplishments for this young man (and a few big failures, as usual) is complete. This year saw our 10th anniversary. A great year, a dismal year, in so many moments (mostly great, by our calculation). Fionn turned 29. He will be half Jonathan’s age in 2027. (Do the math, if you must.) We divided this report into the following categories. Education & Research, Advocacy & People, The Arts & Travel, Abundance & What’s Ahead. We hope you enjoy reading it, and feel free to give us feedback about any of it.
We made our second trip to Harvard Law School, continuing Fionn’s Fellowship there with the Project on Disability. Fionn completed a blog post for them on the UNCRPD research project he did with Caroline Naluwemba, from Uganda. Fionn was one of five Fellows funded by the Belonging Forum to attend their Global Conference in Toronto, and he once again met there his Harvard supervisor, Hezzy Smith.
We ventured to Stavanger University in Norway at the invitation of physicist Francesca Granone, to work as part of an inclusive research team exploring best practices in teaching Mathematics to young children with intellectual disabilities. We recorded a podcast there, and were brought on multiple excursions. While there, we had the opportunity to tour the VID Specialized University of Stavanger and discuss future collaborations.
As Fionn said in two speeches, for World Down Syndrome Day and for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, research forms policy, and good policy can support good lives. We launched the social media hashtag NoResearchWithoutUs.
We found time to continue co-chairing the Intl Assoc for the Scientific Study of IDD’s Inclusive Research Group (though we were unable to attend the IASSIDD Asia Conference in Singapore). And we helped researchers make Ireland a more accessible and inclusive country, as members of the HSE’s Personal Assistant Lived Experience Consultation Group; the National Disability Authority’s Personal Budgets Evaluation Advisory Group; Munster Technological University’s Inclusive Research on Programmes for Access to Higher Education: and Inclusion Ireland’s Decision Support Service Review Group.
Our favorite research continues to be the project we lead ourselves, where Fionn discovers what people love in life.
We conducted Happiness Project interviews at TradFest; Dublin International Film Festival: the Zero Conference; the Anthroposophical Youth Conference; Galway Film Fleadh; Outsider Art Festival in Helsinki; and the Belonging Forum in Toronto.
Some of our favorite interviews were with Sid Ghosh, Peggy Seeger, Bob Odenkirk, Ciaran Culkin, Michael McKean, Imelda May, Pat Shortt and Gerry Adams.
Because we aim so high, we have plenty of disappointments. Our favorite fails this year were Denzel Washington and Bernie Sanders, both of whom we stood close enough to throw a question to, if the circumstances had allowed it.
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