IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v49y2017i6p1361-1378.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Everyone knows me …. I sort of like move about†: The friendships and encounters of young people with Special Educational Needs in different school settings

Author

Listed:
  • Louise Holt
  • Sophie Bowlby
  • Jennifer Lea

Abstract

This paper examines the peer-related social experiences and friendships of young people (aged 11–17) diagnosed with Special Educational Needs in four different school settings: two mainstream schools with special units and two special schools in Southeast England, UK. Findings from qualitative research involving young people with Special Educational Needs and adults, and participant observation, are presented. The young people had one or a combination of the following diagnoses of Special Educational Need: ‘Moderate Learning Difficulties’, on the ‘Autistic Spectrum’, and ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties’. We use the term ‘differences’ rather than ‘difficulties’ to express the interconnected socio-spatial construction of, and corporeality of, the experiences of these differences. There has been limited scholarship about the social experiences of young people with these diagnoses. In our study, young people’s experiences of friendships, exclusion, inclusion and bullying were socio-spatially shifting. Young people had varying experiences in the different school settings. In all settings, most had friends within the school, although those in special schools and units tended to have more friends within the school. However, bullying and ‘othering’ were also experienced in all three settings based on a variety of perceived ‘differences’. All young people needed opportunities for ‘encounter’ to forge friendships. Encounters are risky and can reproduce and reinforce difference as well as generating social connections and friendships. In many spaces, young people’s opportunities for encounter were constrained by the socio-spatial organisation of schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Louise Holt & Sophie Bowlby & Jennifer Lea, 2017. "“Everyone knows me …. I sort of like move about†: The friendships and encounters of young people with Special Educational Needs in different school settings," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(6), pages 1361-1378, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:49:y:2017:i:6:p:1361-1378
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X17696317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X17696317
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X17696317?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Louise Holt & Jennifer Lea & Sophie Bowlby, 2012. "Special Units for Young People on the Autistic Spectrum in Mainstream Schools: Sites of Normalisation, Abnormalisation, Inclusion, and Exclusion," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(9), pages 2191-2206, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrés Martínez-Medina & Sonia Morales-Calvo & Vicenta Rodríguez-Martín & Víctor Meseguer-Sánchez & Valentín Molina-Moreno, 2022. "Sixteen Years since the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: What Have We Learned since Then?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. McLaughlin, Janice & Coleman-Fountain, Edmund, 2014. "The unfinished body: The medical and social reshaping of disabled young bodies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 76-84.
    3. Eleni Damianidou & Andri Georgiadou, 2021. "“LOOK at YOU!”: Disembodiment between ugly bodies and able minds," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1823-1839, September.
    4. Elsa Davidson, 2021. "The child sensorium as privileged biopolitical resource: Sensory care and the burden of emotional control in middle class North American childhood," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(6), pages 1129-1147, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:49:y:2017:i:6:p:1361-1378. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.