Oxford researchers awarded £880,000 to conduct innovative research into active travel and the everyday mobilities of children with non-visible disabilities

At least 1.5 million children in England have special educational needs (SEN), with the most common type of need involving a non-visible disability (GOV.UK, 2022). Non-visible disabilities are disabilities that are not immediately obvious to others, including mental health conditions, autism, sensory processing difficulties, and chronic pain, among others.

 In a recent review, the UK Government announced ambitions to reform transport services for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND), reducing the £800 million budget for SEND transport (HM Government, 2022). These reforms aim to lessen the reliance on motorised transport and promote active travel, including walking and cycling. However, active travel remains far from accessible and inclusive for all, and very little attention has been given to SEND children’s everyday mobility needs and experiences.

 This new project brings together expertise in urban geography, mobility studies, and transport geography from Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit, based within the School of Geography and the Environment, and builds on the team’s internationally recognised work on active travel, disabled mobilities, care and transport infrastructures.

Jennie Middleton, Associate Professor in Human Geography, Tutorial Fellow at St Anne’s College and Principal Investigator of the research, said: “Physical accessibility is often addressed in research and policy on disability, yet the barriers faced by children and families living with non-visible disabilities remain poorly understood. This project examines these barriers to everyday mobility, and the work performed by children and families in response to them.”

Anna Plyushteva, Departmental Research Lecturer in Transport Studies and Co-Investigator of the research commented: “A lot of physical, emotional, and logistical labour goes into accomplishing everyday mobility, and this is particularly true for children with non-visible disabilities and their families. We hope to document this labour and in doing so, help ensure that the needs of children with SEND are recognised in active travel policies.”

Daniel Muñoz, a Research Consultant on the project from the University of Chile added: 

“Current discussion on active travel has given little attention to non-visible disability. We believe supporting the caring practices of families with SEND children will have an impact on their adoption of more low-carbon forms of transport such as walking and cycling. Families’ everyday mobilities in relation to active travel should be at the centre of key policy agendas around accessibility and making everyday lives in cities more liveable and just.”

Jennie Middleton concluded: “It is only by paying close attention to these experiences that we will fully understand the challenges and the different types of labour involved in the context of non-visible disabilities and broader shifts towards forms of active travel where there is scope for important interventions that deliver across policy, mobility justice, and inclusive transport objectives.”

Collectively the Transport Studies Unit’s research has shown the significance of the invisible labour of what it means to ‘be on the move’ and the impacts of exclusionary active travel agendas. This three-year project, which will begin in January 2024 constitutes a step change in applying these critical perspectives to the everyday mobility of children with non-visible disabilities drawing upon co-produced and playful interventions in collaboration with project partners SENDIASS (Oxford) and SEND Families Voice (Swindon). 

To find out more about Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit, visit: https://www.tsu.ox.ac.uk/