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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Statement delivered to the Human Rights Council at the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child: Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education

Child Rights Connect, 04 Mar 2019

Child Rights Connect delivered a written and oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council on 4 March 2019 at an event to promote the empowerment of children with disabilities to enjoy their full human rights, including through inclusive education. In the statement, Child Rights Connect says that children with disabilities "are much more likely to grow up in alternative care and face heightened risk of violence."

Global Survey of Inclusive Early Childhood Development and Early Childhood Intervention Programs

Emily Vargas-Barón, Jason Small, Donald Wertlieb, Hollie Hix-Small, Rocío Gómez Botero, Kristel Diehl, Paola Vergara, Paul Lynch - RISE Institute , 01 Mar 2019

This report presents the findings of a global survey designed to map current implementation of Inclusive Early Childhood Development (IECD) and Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) programs, among other objectives, and outlines recommendations based on those findings.

Country Care Review: Belgium

Better Care Network, 28 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of the Committees' examinations of the initial State reports.

Country Care Review: Italy

Better Care Network, 28 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Country Care Review: Bahrain

Better Care Network, 27 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Child Welfare Caseworkers and Children with Developmental Disabilities: An Exploratory Study

Trupti Rao, Elizabeth Reiman, Ashley Ausikaitis - Social Work, 31 Jan 2019

In this exploratory study, through use of an online anonymous survey, local county child welfare caseworkers were asked to self-rate their knowledge of, exposure to, and comfort levels with children with developmental disabilities.

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Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights , 22 Jan 2019

In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 37/20, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides an overview of the legal framework and practical measures to empower children with disabilities.

Rights of persons with disabilities: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, 11 Jan 2019

In her report, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities provides an overview of the activities undertaken in 2018 and a thematic study on disability-specific forms of deprivation of liberty, in the light of the standards set forth in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“A child who is hidden has no rights”: Responses to violence against children with disabilities

Janet Njelesani - Child Abuse & Neglect, 08 Jan 2019

Guided by social-ecological theory, this study explores responses to violence against children with disabilities, including preventative measures and treatment of victims in the West African countries of Guinea, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

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Balancing the scales: Custody deprivation and fostering in Iceland

Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir, Robin Harwick, James Rice - International Social Work, 04 Jan 2019

Building on discourse analyses of custody deprivation cases, the authors of this paper call for greater understanding of how disability intersects with parenting and the need for an improved support system.

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