Voice, vlogs and visibility: the experiences of young people with SEND engaging in the school games

The voices of young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have historically been omitted from research concerning their sporting experiences and provisions [Coates, J., & Vickerman, P. (2013). A review of methodological strategies for consulting children with special educational needs in physical education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 28(3), 333–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2013.797705; Wickman, K. (2015). Experiences and Perceptions of Young Adults with Physical Disabilities on Sports. Social Inclusion, 3(3), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v3i3.158]. Consequently, this paper, informed by innovative participatory methods for exploring the experiences of young people with SEND who engaged in UK School Games, offers insight on inclusive school sport from the perspectives of young people with SEND. Participants included young people aged 11–18 with a range of SEND (n = 18) who attended three different types of school (mainstream college, mainstream secondary with designated SEND provision and a secondary special school). The research design encompassed young people with SEND vlogging their experiences across two inclusive School Games county finals, video editing workshops replacing traditional follow-up methods before culminating in a series of young people-led showcases. Data were analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis, whereby the vlog audio was detached and transcribed verbatim before the analysis was performed consisting of a hybrid use of Nvivo10 and traditional coding techniques. Findings and discussion document the experiences of young people with SEND at the inclusive School Games competitions across three themes; Opportunities for inclusive school sport, Challenging perceptions and Meaningful School Games. The implications of these findings will be valuable to teachers and other stakeholders seeking to provide inclusive school sport and the methodology is of interest to researchers wishing to engage young people in participatory research.