05/11/2025
Just incase anyone missed our earlier response to this disgraceful news ..
Recent comments, and our response 🌟
As a charity supporting autistic people, those with ADHD and their families, The Glowsticks Project is deeply concerned by recent remarks by Kemi Badenoch questioning mobility vehicles for people with ADHD. We strongly believe mobility aids are not just about physical disability — they’re about ensuring access, autonomy, dignity and meaningful participation in life.
For many individuals with ADHD — and for parents caring for children with ADHD — access to a reliable vehicle isn’t a luxury: it’s a lifeline. It underpins everyday functions that neuro-divergent people and families often struggle to access or sustain.
Below, we’ve outlined in detail the wide-ranging benefits of cars/mobility-vehicles in the ADHD context. We invite policymakers, funders and the public to recognise this reality: mobility support matters.
🔹 Share, tag a friend who needs this recognised.
🔹 Use hashtag
🌟 Why access to a car / mobility vehicle matters for people with ADHD & parent-carers of children with ADHD 🌟
Here are many of the ways a vehicle can make a significant difference. Some overlap with physical disability contexts, but it’s important to highlight how ADHD-related challenges make mobility particularly important:
1. Flexibility and time-management support
People with ADHD often struggle with time-blindness, executive function (planning, sequencing journeys) and unpredictability of routines. Having a car gives greater control over departure times, routes, and pacing.
Parent-carers of children with ADHD frequently have to handle drop-offs, pickups, therapy sessions, school changes, extra-curricular activities. A vehicle reduces reliance on public transport schedules or multiple transfers, which can add stress and unpredictability.
Having a vehicle means fewer “what ifs” and less cognitive load around whether transport will arrive, whether the child will tolerate delays/interchanges, whether the parent can stay flexible.
2. Reduced sensory & environmental stress
Public transport can present many challenges for people with ADHD: delays, crowded spaces, overstimulation (noise, lights, people), transitions, the need to switch attention frequently. A car offers a more controlled, familiar environment.
For children with ADHD (and/or co-occurring conditions such as autism) transitions and waiting for public transport can trigger anxiety or dysregulation. A car means more predictable conditions and fewer “unknowns”.
Parent-carers can use the vehicle to buffer the sensory environment, enabling calmer journeys (for example fewer people, less noise) and thus less meltdown or dysregulation risk.
3. Independence and dignity
For a young person with ADHD (or adult) a car can represent freedom: going to work, socialising, managing appointments without always relying on others. This supports self-esteem, identity and reduces dependency.
For parent-carers, the car enables them to function more reliably as a “household vehicle” rather than constantly adapting around transport limitations, which can boost their own resilience and reduce stress.
4. Access to vital services and activities
ADHD often comes with other support needs: behavioural therapy, mentoring, specialist clinics, sports/exercise to manage hyperactivity or executive-function stresses. A car enables reach to these services even in areas with poor public transport.
For children, attending after-school clubs, hobbies, intermittent bursts of high-need support (e.g., one-off appointments) is much easier by car — meaning fewer missed opportunities and better inclusivity.
5. Support in emergencies or unpredictable situations
ADHD can involve impulsivity, emotional dysregulation or sudden changes of plan. A car gives immediate mobility: if a child has a meltdown or needs to be taken home quickly, the parent-carer isn’t relying on bus/train with schedule constraints.
Similarly, adult ADHD may mean you have less “buffer time” and more last-minute changes. Having a vehicle is a practical safety net.
6. Reduced cumulative fatigue and stress
Constantly having to coordinate public transport, rely on others, adjust plans creates “executive load” — which people with ADHD already struggle to sustain. A car alleviates part of that load.
Parent-carers also carry high load: juggling appointments, transport, sensory demands, behaviour support. A car reduces one major logistical barrier and so can improve wellbeing and sustainability of the caring role.
7. Enabling family life, participation and inclusion
Families with children with ADHD often feel sidelined by transport barriers: day trips, family outings, visits to relatives, extracurricular events. A vehicle enables more spontaneous inclusion and shared family experiences, which support bonding and belonging.
For sibling relationships, for wider family, for community connections: mobility matters.
8. Supporting transition and future planning
For a young person with ADHD moving into adulthood, having access to a vehicle can support transition to work, training, further education, independent life.
For the parent-carer, a car can enable the child to gradually build on independent transport skills, driving, mobility, rather than being locked into dependence. This is forward-looking and developmental.
9. Adaptability for co-occurring needs
ADHD often comes with co-occurring conditions (anxiety, autism, sensory processing issues, executive dysfunction). A vehicle can be adapted (quiet space, sensory cushions, visual schedule board in car, controlled environment) in ways that public transport cannot.
If a child has mobility or stamina limitations (e.g., due to comorbid physical condition), a car enables transport without relying on heavy physical exertion or inaccessible infrastructure.
10. Symbolic of equality and dignity
Denying access to mobility support because ADHD is “only behaviour” or “only neurodivergence” sends a message of second-class status to neurodivergent people and their families. Access to mobility symbolises that their needs are valid, deserves support, and that they are valued members of society.
For The Glowsticks Project’s community, this matters: the message is that neurodivergent people deserve the same access to mobility, participation and community life as anyone else.
🌟 Why some policymakers may raise objections — and our response 🌟
Objection: “Mobility cars are for physical disabilities, not behavioural/neurodevelopmental ones.”
🌟 Response: Mobility is not just about walking distance or muscle power — it’s about ability to participate in the community, access employment, reduce risk, support self-management. ADHD and neurodivergence can impose real mobility-barriers (sensory overload, executive dysfunction, heightened travel fatigue) which justify support.
Objection: “Public transport is there for everyone, cars are a luxury.”
🌟 Response: Public transport is not accessible for everyone. Neurodivergent people often face hidden barriers (sensory overload, unpredictability, social anxiety) that make standard transport inaccessible or damaging. A car levels the playing field.
Objection: “The scheme may be misused.”
🌟 Response: The focus should be fairness and outcomes, not blanket discounts. We support robust assessments and oversight — but this must not blanket-exclude people with ADHD or their families.
Objection: “It’s costly to the taxpayer.”
🌟 Response: Mobility support can reduce other costs (mental health crises, missed appointments, reliance on emergency services, reduced employment). Enabling independence often pays dividends. Moreover, some schemes (like Motability) are funded via benefits rather than being additional cost.
🌟 Have you or your child with ADHD had a vehicle and it has made a difference? Tell us!
🌟 Write to your local MP to ask policy makers to recognise mobility barriers for neurodivergent people and families:
We will keep on sharing this until people hear what we are saying and do not make such sweeping exclusions and statements to exclude a condition they do not appear to know much about!
