TY - JOUR

T1 - Who’s afraid of the big bad woods?

T2 - fear and learning disabled children’s access to local nature

AU - Von Benzon, Nadia

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - Children's access to the natural environment has been an issue of interest in policy and the media in recent years, with headline grabbing phrases such as “nature deficit disorder” (Louv, R., 2008. Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin: New York) being applied to the consequences of contemporary children's absence from natural environments. This paper presents some of the initial findings of a research project seeking to address learning disabled children's relationship with the natural environment. Through conducting inclusive and direct research with learning disabled children,1This paper presents unique findings concerning the accessibility of natural environments, particularly focusing on the perceived vulnerability of learning disabled children, and the supposed dangers of and in natural spaces. This discussion provides an alternative perspective from a usually silent group, which should be given weight in local environment management policies. The work also has value for the broader social science community, in illustrating the potential for the direct involvement of learning disabled children in research.

AB - Children's access to the natural environment has been an issue of interest in policy and the media in recent years, with headline grabbing phrases such as “nature deficit disorder” (Louv, R., 2008. Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin: New York) being applied to the consequences of contemporary children's absence from natural environments. This paper presents some of the initial findings of a research project seeking to address learning disabled children's relationship with the natural environment. Through conducting inclusive and direct research with learning disabled children,1This paper presents unique findings concerning the accessibility of natural environments, particularly focusing on the perceived vulnerability of learning disabled children, and the supposed dangers of and in natural spaces. This discussion provides an alternative perspective from a usually silent group, which should be given weight in local environment management policies. The work also has value for the broader social science community, in illustrating the potential for the direct involvement of learning disabled children in research.

KW - childhood

KW - disability

KW - nature

KW - risk

KW - fear

U2 - 10.1080/13549839.2011.636419

DO - 10.1080/13549839.2011.636419

M3 - Journal article

VL - 16

SP - 1021

EP - 1040

JO - Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability

JF - Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability

SN - 1354-9839

IS - 10

ER -