Toyscope UK
Developmental diversity meets one-size-fits-all: The complex challenge of toy safety for children with special educational needs and disabilities
Standard safety labelling for toys and educational materials is fundamentally flawed – designed for the “average child” while failing the growing population of children with diverse developmental profiles. This presentation examines this wicked problem at the intersection of safety regulation, developmental psychology, and inclusive education.
Drawing from my experience working in specialist autism education, I will critique how responsibility for appropriate resource selection is delegated to parents and educators without adequate frameworks for decision-making. This gap is particularly problematic for the 1.6 million pupils in England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), who may interact with materials in ways not anticipated by generic age recommendations.
The presentation will synthesize evidence from paediatric injury research, educational studies on beneficial risk in play, and current toy safety regulations to describe the scope of this complex, multifaceted challenge. I’ll explore tensions between protection and learning, standardisation and personalisation, and highlight the perspectives of different stakeholders across health, education, and regulatory sectors.
Rather than offering simplistic solutions, this session aims to spark collaborative thinking among researchers, practitioners, and policy specialists. By framing this as a complex, interdisciplinary challenge, I hope to initiate discussion about more systematic approaches to resource assessment that could better serve all children.
This exploration aligns directly with the conference theme by addressing how current safety paradigms can undermine rather than improve life chances for children with diverse developmental profiles, and how educational research might help navigate this challenging territory.