While various forms of social difference (e.g. gender, age, race/ethnicity, and class) have been engaged in the active school travel (AST) and children’s independent mobility (CIM) literatures, one form has gone largely unconsidered: disability. Disregard for disability within these literatures is troubling, as it leaves children’s experiences of disability associated with independent mobility and school travel unquestioned, which in turn helps to allow their experiences of exclusion to persist. This paper presents a systematic review of the AST and CIM literatures that was undertaken with a view to providing insight into three questions. (1) To what extent is disability considered in the literatures in comparison to other forms of social difference? (2) How is disability engaged? (3) How could disability be approached differently such that experiences of children (and their households) living with disability are better accounted for moving forward (e.g. provided with equitable travel/mobility options)? Following a detailed consideration of the systematic review process, this paper presents figures and tables showing the extent to which disability has been considered in the two literatures in relation to other forms of social difference. To show how transport scholars and others are engaging disability, 29 studies were identified for in-depth, qualitative review. These studies are summarized and then discussed in relation to their geographic focus, the forms of disability they considered, their treatment of children’s perspective and agency, and the disability perspectives they employed. It is suggested that disability and its relationships with other forms of social difference, as well as the largely unquestioned normalcy of children’s disability experiences, warrant further inquiry within the AST and CIM literatures. We propose that drawing upon a critical ableist studies perspective may be useful for any such inquiry due to its focus on ableism and normalcy, as well as its recognition of the complex intersectionality of disability experiences.

Inclusive playgrounds that are designed to be physically accessible and welcoming to children with disabilities may provide equal and equitable access to play for all children. Using a naturalistic observational design, this study examines children’s use of a playground designed to be accessible and inclusive for all ages and abilities. A modified version of the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities was used to collect child data on observed gender, age, play behaviour types, social interactions, and activity levels. A relatively equal number of female (52%) and male (48%) observations was made, and the majority (96%) of children observed appeared to be under 12 years of age. Most children (71%) were observed to be engaging in active play. Functional play (e.g., climbing, swinging, running) was the predominant play behaviour observed on the playground (88%), and the majority of social interactions were with peers (48%) or an adult (26%). These findings provide information on how children use a playground designed to be inclusive for children of all ages and abilities. This information can be used to help inform the design of inclusive play spaces as well as types of programming that may occur within such settings.

In this commentary, we suggest that disability in planning practice is widely under-theorized. Planners must respond to normalized inattention to disability in the planning field and can begin doing so by engaging disability theory in practice. Five disability perspectives are discussed with a view to providing planners with a disability theory toolkit: (1) the medical, (2) social, and (3) biopsychosocial models; (4) a neoliberal viewpoint; and (5) a critical ableist studies lens. We encourage planners to embrace disability theory and the complexity of disability experiences, and to work toward unsettling the normalcy of disabled people’s exclusion in planned environments.

Background: Some children with disabilities (CWD) frequently visit pediatric healthcare settings for appointments. Their age, disability, and regular visits mean that they have unique experiences in healthcare settings. While previous research has explored the clinical experiences of CWD, little is known about their experiences of pediatric healthcare built environments, even though these environments may play an important role in shaping their perceptions of care. Given the significant time that some CWD and chronic illnesses (e.g., cancer) spend in healthcare environments and the impact that these settings can have on their experiences, the knowledge gap concerning how they view, and experience healthcare built environments demands attention. Objective: To explore how CWD and their families experience pediatric healthcare built environments. Methods: A scoping review was conducted by searching five health science and interdisciplinary literature databases using terms related to children, disability, healthcare, and built environment. The search identified 5,397 records that were screened independently by three reviewers. Results: Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria and were considered in the final review. Findings indicate that CWD and their families value healthcare built environment features that support social engagement, patient privacy, and parental presence. Further, the age of a child was highlighted as an important factor that influences the built environment preferences of CWD. Conclusions: CWD and their families prefer certain healthcare built environment features to optimize their experiences in these settings. Healthcare designers can leverage these findings to advance more inclusive pediatric healthcare spaces to improve care and the quality of life for CWD and their families.