‘Care on the move’: labour, desensitisation, and the everyday mobilities of children with non-visible disabilities
Topics:
Keywords: care, disability, mobilities, everyday, children, labour
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Jennie Middleton, University of Oxford
Daniel Muñoz, University of Oxford
Anna Plyushteva, University of Oxford
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Abstract
At least 1.5 million children in England have special education needs (SEN), with the most common type of need involving a non-visible disability (GOV.UK, 2022) yet there is no academic research that has specifically examined their everyday mobility needs and experiences. 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. Through the concept of ‘care on the move’, this paper focuses on the labour of planning, managing, and modifying journeys done by families living with non-visible disabilities. The concept centres the labour of care embedded in journeys themselves, in contrast to much existing geographical research on care and mobility, which largely focuses on journeys as means to accessing or giving care at specific destinations. In attending to the embodied labour associated with ‘care on the move’ we foreground the labour of managing sensation as a necessary element to enable journeys. We argue that desensitisation is a key resource for both parents/carers and children in the practical accomplishment of what constitutes a ‘smooth passage’ and therefore a vital consideration for understanding the everyday mobilities of children with non-visible disabilities.
‘Care on the move’: labour, desensitisation, and the everyday mobilities of children with non-visible disabilities
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Paper Abstract