Care on the move: active travel and the everyday mobilities of children with non-visible disabilities

由于目前正在重新设计交通系统，以包括各种形式的积极出行(即步行、骑自行车)，因此在一系列城市和交通政策领域中都解决了交通更加便利的需要。然而，使交通便利和包容性的重大责任往往落在那些有具体的无障碍需求和限制的人身上。此外，这种接触的重点主要是身体损害，而无形的残疾很少得到同样程度的解决。看不见的残疾可能包括精神健康状况、自闭症、感觉处理困难和慢性疼痛等。这些问题可以与明显的残疾结合起来体验，但通常不是由无障碍的有形基础设施专门解决的。为了解决这些问题，人们经常在移动中进行护理实践，这可能包括提前计划、管理和修改移动空间的感觉环境(例如。火车站；拥挤的人行道；高速公路服务站)，处理不相信的陌生人和运输工人，并提供帮助和舒适。鉴于这些困难，令人惊讶的是，人们对无形残疾的关注如此之少。特别是，没有一项研究系统地分析了有非明显残疾儿童的家庭如何以及为什么会有不同的“移动护理”做法。现有的研究倾向于关注流动性的物质基础设施。虽然这些研究揭示了关键的见解，但该项目的核心论点是，迫切需要更好地了解移动基础设施，有形的和短暂的，这些基础设施是通过家庭在移动中执行的体力、情感和后勤劳动创建的。对于有看不见的残疾儿童的家庭来说，制定总体上的迁徙，特别是无车迁徙的劳动可能是广泛的。然而，人们对这种劳动仍然知之甚少，特别是在旅游活跃的背景下。重点仍然是离散的个人交通用户，他们被概念化为没有负担的成年人，这在交通研究和政策中无处不在。居住在牛津和斯温登不同地区的不同家庭样本将通过当地学校和残疾援助组织招募。有几个原因说明，了解家庭在照顾患有无形残疾的儿童时所经历的行动挑战是很重要的。在围绕包容性积极旅行的更广泛辩论中，看不见的残疾往往被忽视。找到支持这些家庭护理做法的创新方法，将对他们采用更多低碳交通方式，如步行和骑自行车的决策产生相当大的影响。家庭日常迁徙如何与包容性的积极旅行形式相关联，也是关键政策议程中需要增加的重要内容，这些议程的核心是无障碍和如何使城市的日常生活更宜居和更公正。因此，该项目将发展与当代流动的生活经验有关的理论见解，以便为照顾隐形残疾儿童的家庭的日常流动提供重要的新视角。我们认为，只有密切关注这些经历，我们才能充分理解在无形残疾和更广泛的主动旅行形式转变的背景下，“移动护理”所涉及的挑战和不同类型的劳动，在这种情况下，有机会采取重要的干预措施，实现跨政策、流动正义和包容性交通目标。

As transport systems are currently being redesigned to include forms of active travel (i.e. walking, cycling), the need for transport to be more accessible has been addressed in a range of urban and transport policy arenas. Yet a significant onus of making transport accessible and inclusive is often on those who have specific accessibility needs and constraints. Furthermore, the emphasis of such engagements is predominantly on physical impairment with non-visible disabilities rarely addressed to the same extent. Non-visible disabilities can include mental health conditions, autism, sensory processing difficulties, and chronic pain, among others. They can be experienced in combination with visible disabilities but are not typically specifically addressed by physical infrastructures for accessibility. To negotiate them, people often engage in practices of care while on the move, which can include planning ahead for, managing, and modifying the sensory environments of mobile spaces (eg. train stations; crowded sidewalks; motorway service stations), dealing with incredulous strangers and transport workers, and providing assistance and comfort. In view of such difficulties, it is surprising that so little attention has been paid to non-visible disability. In particular, no study has systematically analysed how and why the practices of 'care on the move' by families with non-visibly disabled children are distinctive. Existing studies have tended to focus on the material infrastructures of mobility. Whilst these studies have revealed key insights, the central argument of this project is that there is a pressing need to gain a greater understanding of the mobility infrastructures, tangible as well as ephemeral, which are created through the physical, emotional, and logistical labour performed by families on the move. For families with children with non-visible disabilities, the labour of enacting mobilities in general, and car-free mobilities in particular, can be extensive. However, this labour remains poorly understood especially in the context of active travel. The focus remains on discrete individual transport users conceptualised as unencumbered adults, which is pervasive in transport research and policy. A varied sample of families living in different areas of Oxford and Swindon will be recruited through local schools and disability support organisations. There are several reasons why understanding the mobility challenges experienced by families 'caring on the move' in the context of children with non-visible disabilities is important. Non-visible disability is frequently neglected within broader debates around inclusive active travel. Finding innovative ways of supporting the caring practices of these families will have a considerable impact on their decision-making in relation to adopting more low-carbon forms of transport such as walking and cycling. How families everyday mobilities relate to inclusive forms of active travel also has something important to add to key policy agendas centering on accessibility and ways of making everyday lives in cities more liveable and just. As such, this project will develop theoretical insights in relation to the lived experience of contemporary mobility in order to provide important new perspectives on the everyday mobilities of families caring for children with non-visible disabilities. Our belief is that 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 'caring on move' in the context of non-visible disability 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.