With the help of parents and teachers, 12 students at Appleford School near Shrewton in Wiltshire will be cycling the length of the UK later this year.
Over the space of 16 days, they’ll travel from John O’Groats to Land’s End in a mammoth challenge.
One of the cyclists, 14-year-old Lex Taylor-Loveless from Boscombe, said: “It’s a very small amount of people and it’s a very hard challenge.”
Lex has dyslexia and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and fell four years behind at school, before he enrolled at the specialist centre.
They’re yet to decide which charity to support, but Lex is keen to raise awareness of neurodiversity, after struggling to find the right support with his education.
He added: “A lot of people don’t understand what it means to be neurodiverse, so I think by doing this we’ll bring awareness to the cause.”
Although he lives in Boscombe, Lex has to travel over 80 miles every day to attend a specialist school in Salisbury, because mainstream placements could not meet his needs.
Lex’s mother, Angela, agrees that neurodiverse conditions should be celebrated.
She said: “They’re all doing something to prove that it makes absolutely no difference.”
She added: “They’re as strong and fit as anyone is. I think it’s a gift in the outside world.”
A recent report by the National Audit Office found that the special educational needs system was “financially unsustainable” without reform and that parents increasingly lack confidence in it.
The government has recently announced a £1bn boost for the SEN budget.
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