Home is Where the Start is

There has been a wealth of social research on the housing and urban environmental experiences of physically impaired adults. This research has influenced policy makers, and urban environments are now becoming more inclusive for people with physical impairments. This report examines the experiences of children with visual impairments. It finds that visually impaired children's housing and urban environmental needs have not been particularly well represented by urban policy makers. "Home is Where the Start Is" highlights the following issues: measures to address physical layout of the environment are less important to visually impaired children than they are to physically impaired adults; children's experiences of movement in the urban environment are more problematic than the design of the urban environment; and the social experience of living in a poor urban area affects visually impaired children's experience of disability more than the physical layout of the urban environment. This report makes recommendations for future policy and practice. It should be of use to housing, planning and urban regeneration practitioners and policy makers.