Young Wheelchair Users’ Play and Recreation

Despite a rapid increase in research into children and young people’s lives, the experiences of disabled children – and in particular disabled young people – still remain largely overlooked. This chapter offers some reflections on the leisure experiences of young wheelchair users (13–17 years) in their homes and across a range of public spaces. The data that are presented were collected during a multi-method UK-based project which was designed to capture their use of different spaces away from the school environment. The teenagers and their parents discussed the physical and social barriers inherent in these places which impeded on their access to leisure. Their contributions signal the importance of situating the leisure experiences of young people in the context of families. The complex relationships and negotiations between parents and teenagers in accessing leisure are explored, signaling the ways that they work together, or at times in opposition, to open up or close down leisure opportunities