Report on on-going research into policy and guidelines for the provision of transport for children with special educational needs by Local Education Authorities, identifying institutional problems in defining the "users" of such services and their needs. Recent advances in the field of transport for people with special needs have highlighted relative lack of progress in corresponding provision for home-to-school transport. The research examines current practice in the area of transport for children with special educational needs and contrasts this with standards of vehicle design and operation gaining acceptance in the wider public transport field. The contribution of users to developing sensitive and responsive transport practice in passenger transport generally, through lobbying and example, has revolutionised the industry and influenced the thinking of manufacturers, operators and legislators. The research examines the conflicting priorities of those who can claim to be "users" of home-to-school transport for special needs children: schools, parents, local authorities as contracting agents, education welfare workers and pupils themselves. A variety of research techniques are necessary to establish the perceptions of these groups, particularly in the case of pupils who may have communication difficulties, and the authors have investigated innovative games and role-playing methods to discover pupil preferences. (A)
Abstract