Stella Chatzitheochari

I am Reader in Sociology and Principal Investigator of the project. I started working on childhood and adolescent disability during my postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Education where I was involved in an ESRC-funded project on the Transitions and Trajectories of Disabled Children and Young People in England. My previous work has focused on educational transitions and school bullying experiences of disabled children and young people.

With this project, I am interested to understand the full range of mechanisms that lead to educational and occupational disadvantage experienced by disabled young people. I also have a particular interest on health-related stigma and the ways it influences life chances and trajectories.

You can contact me at s.chatzitheochari@warwick.ac.uk 

Angharad Butler-Rees

I am Research Fellow in Sociology and will be leading on the qualitative component of this study. I have a longstanding interest in disability rights, advocacy, accessibility, and social inclusion. Previously, I have worked as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Inclusion, University of Southampton, where I undertook research into digital accessibility. Prior to this, I completed my doctorate studies in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton, where I explored disability activism in response to austerity.

My interest in disabled people’s transitions stems from my previous research around blind young people’s transitions to higher education, along with my time working at charities and advocacy organisations including UCAN Productions and Leonard Cheshire Disability.

You can contact me at angharad.butler-rees@warwick.ac.uk

Sanne Velthuis

* Sanne moved to the University of Newcastle in May 2021 *

I am Research Assistant on the project and will be working on the

quantitative component, analysing the educational trajectories of young people with disabilities using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (Next Steps). I am also a research associate at the Work and Equalities Institute at the University of Manchester where I’m working on a project on progression from low pay. Previously I worked at the Manchester Institute of Education on a project exploring the post-16 transitions of young people who did not achieve a grade C/4 in English and maths GCSEs.

Melissa Chapple

* Melissa moved to the University of Liverpool in March 2023 *

I am Research Assistant on the project, primarily working on the qualitative longitudinal study of disabled young people. My wider interests include improving social inclusion for autistic people, promoting neurodiversity paradigms and addressing stigmatising attitudes towards disabled people.

I am also a PhD student at the University of Liverpool, where I am exploring how shared realities that are afforded through narrative reading can improve understandings between autistic and non-autistic adults. Through my work with autistic people, I have developed a keen interest in exploring the disadvantages faced by disabled people as a result of socially constructed norms and environments.

You can contact me at melissa.chapple@warwick.ac.uk