Funding awarded to explore challenges faced by neurodivergent children

A research project, which will explore the road safety challenges experienced by neurodivergent children, has been awarded funding by The Road Safety Trust.

The Road Safety Foundation was awarded £153,211 from the Trust’s Autumn 2024 funding round – with a further £1.1m having been provided to six other research projects which aim to address how different communities and individuals experience unequal risks on UK roads.

It’s estimated that more than 1.6million pupils in England have Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the number continues to grow. Anecdotal evidence suggests neurodivergent people face increased road risk with research and evidence needed to underpin policy and decision-making, as well as improve road safety for neurodivergent children more broadly.

The first phase of the proposed project is ‘discovery’ to better understand and quantify road risk for neurodivergent children under 18 and collect data on everyday challenges they face.

The second phase is ‘analysis and interventions’. In this phase, experts will convene to undertake a safe system analysis of the risks faced by neurodivergent children and provide a systemic review of current interventions and mitigations.

1 October 2025