Children with Disabilities

A disability includes a physical impairment such as mobility, hearing, visual, and language difficulties, and developmental delays which affect a person’s behaviour, emotional expression, and learning abilities. It includes mild to severe disabilities, from cerebral palsy, paralysis and amputation, to blindness, deafness, autism, and dyslexia. Children may be born with an impairment, or develop one as a result of disease, abuse, or an injury, e.g. many children are the victims of shootings, bombings, and explosions in conflict affected areas.

The degree of disability a person experiences is frequently related to society’s adaptation to meet the needs of people with varying abilities. This is known as the social model of disability which highlights the role of the environment in reducing or increasing the ability of individuals to participate equally in everyday life. For example, a person in a wheelchair has the impairment of not being able to walk. The disability, however, may be that he cannot take up services due to a lack of building access. Protection workers must consider any additional needs or risk factors a person may have as a result of his impairment and disability. Children in developing countries are more vulnerable to disability since poverty and conflicts increase the incidence of impairments, and reduce the provision of necessary health, education, social services, and adaptive provisions to help include children of all abilities.

Children with impairments or special needs are highly vulnerable to discrimination, abandonment, abuse, exploitation, injury and death, since they are more reliant on the cooperation and support of others to meet their basic needs, and may be less able to express their wishes. In some cultures, children with special needs are actively excluded from participating in society since they may be viewed as a source of shame, or unworthy of care and protection.

Government policies should seek to reduce the incidence of injuries and diseases via adequate health care, including education, immunizations, nutrition, and sanitation. All programming and policies for children should promote the social inclusion of children with disabilities at every level. Children should benefit from the reduction of physical and social barriers, adaptation of services and/or rehabilitation assistance in order to enable them to participate as fully as possible in their communities. This includes family support, health facilities, access to education, and respite services to enable children to fulfill their potential. Children of all abilities must be empowered to express their views and to influence their own lives.

The resources in this section focus on children with disabilities in developing countries, and those affected by conflict. They highlight their vulnerability to exclusion and abuse, and provide examples of projects to address the needs of children with special needs.

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Parent and family leadership in preventing institutionalization of children with disabilities: Promising practices from countries in transition- COSP13 Side Event

Keystone Human Services, Inclusion International, SPOON, International Social Service - Burkina Faso, Shonaquip - South Africa, Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs - Vietnam, Auto-reprezentanți - Moldova, International Disability Alliance, 04 Dec 2020

By drawing on the experiences of parents, advocates, NGOs, and public officials, this side event invited discussion on how, through strengthening families and tools for prevention, societies can reduce the number of children being institutionalized. During the event, a panel of experts from the Republic of Moldova, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and the United States explored their experiences around efforts to empower parents and keep children with disabilities with their families.

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Meeting families where they are: Text‐based support in parent to parent programs

Robin L. Dodds - Child: Care, Health and Development, 01 Dec 2020

This paper reports on the results of an online survey of P2P stakeholders regarding: How text‐based support is being used in P2P programs and whether text‐based support is perceived as providing benefits to parents of children with disabilities.

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The exposure of children with and without disabilities to violent parental discipline: Cross-sectional surveys in 17 middle- and low-income countries

Eric Emerson and Gwynnyth Llewellyn - Child Abuse & Neglect, 04 Nov 2020

The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence rates and adjusted rate ratios of exposure to violent parental discipline among children with and without disabilities in middle- and low-income countries.

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Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad: Décadas de Violencia y Abuso en las instituciones para Niñas, Niños, Adolescentes y Adultos con Discapacidad

Laurie Ahern, Lisbet Brizuela, Ivonne Millán, Priscila Rodríguez, Eric Rosenthal - Disability Rights International, 26 Oct 2020

Este informe documenta violaciones graves y generalizadas a los derechos humanos de niñas, niños adolescentes y adultos con discapacidad en centros residenciales en México.

Crimes Against Humanity: Decades of Violence and Abuse in Mexican Institutions for Children and Adults with Disabilities

Laurie Ahern, Lisbet Brizuela, Ivonne Millán, Priscila Rodríguez, Eric Rosenthal - Disability Rights International, 26 Oct 2020

This report documents severe and pervasive human rights violations against children and adults with disabilities in residential facilities in Mexico.

Ushering children with disabilities in the ‘new normal’ post-COVID-19 period: collective actions in the Philippines

Michael B. Cahapay - Disability & Society, 08 Oct 2020

This issue paper describes the collective actions to usher children with disabilities in the new normal post-COVID-19 period in the Philippines.

Training Manual for Caregivers of Children with Disabilities

Republic of Ghana Department of Social Welfare, UNICEF, 01 Oct 2020

This Training Manual for Caregivers of Children with disabilities has been developed to equip caregivers of children with disabilities (which include biological parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, caregivers in institutions, caregivers in day care centers, healthcare providers, teachers of special needs schools, etc.) with the needed knowledge and skill in order for them to be able to provide the required quality of care for the children for them to grow and develop well and become productive in society.

Measuring parenting capacity for disabled children using a child protection assessment

Susan Flynn - Journal of Social Work, 17 Sep 2020

This paper provides a critical commentary on approaches to assessments of the capacity of parents of disabled children. International review of literature on this subject matter is enacted across three themes.

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Inquiry concerning Hungary under article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 17 Sep 2020

This report presents the findings from a visit conducted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 21 January to 1 February 2019. Findings include those regarding children with disabilities, including those in institutional care.

Profile of neurodevelopmental and behavioural problems and associated psychosocial factors among a cohort of newly looked after children in an English local authority

Michael Ogundele - Adoption & Fostering, 16 Sep 2020

This study seeks to assess the prevalence of childhood neurodisabilities and related neurodevelopmental, emotional, behavioural and intellectual problems (NDEBIPs) among a cohort of children coming into care in an English local authority.

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