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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Country Care Review: United Arab Emirates

Better Care Network, 03 Oct 2016

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the sixteenth session (15 Aug 2016 – 2 Sept 2016) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Foster Care Outcomes for Children With Intellectual Disability

Slayter, Elspeth M - American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 01 Oct 2016

This article is a discussion of the state of foster care for children with disabilities. This study explores three areas related to foster care outcomes: 1) previous disrupted or dissolved adoptions among youth with and without intellectual disabilities; 2) demographic or disability related disparities of youth with intellectual disabilities who were and were not discharged from care; and 3) foster care outcomes of youth with and without intellectual disabilities.

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Country Care Review: Colombia

Better Care Network, 30 Sep 2016

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the sixteenth session (15 Aug 2016 – 2 Sep 2016) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Serving Children with Disabilities: Executive Summary

St. Catherine University and SPOON Foundation , 24 Sep 2016

This summary examines the conditions children with disabilities face in Zambia. The summary asks if the quality of life for these children can be improved?

Serving Children with Disabilities: Formative Assessment Report

Jennifer Biggs Miller, Donna DeGracia, Maureen Dykinga, Deb Filer, Mary Hearst, Renee Hepperlen, Dana Johnson, Zeina Makhoul, Paula Rabaey, Holly Willis, 24 Sep 2016

This document provides a formative assessment on the state of children with disabilities in Zambia.

Critical realism and grounded theory: Analysing the adoption outcomes for disabled children using the retroduction framework

Sarah Bunt - Qualitative Social Work, 21 Sep 2016

By drawing on an empirical study on placing disabled children for adoption, the article seeks to demonstrate the practical application of critical realist by combining its Retroductive framework with Grounded Theory methods.

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Los Últimos de la Fila: Niños, Niñas, y Adolescentes con Discapacidad en Instituciones Residenciales en América Latina y el Caribe

UNICEF y RELAF, 01 Aug 2016

Este informe, presenta los resultados de ese estudio, examina las condiciones en que se encuentran los niños y los adolescentes con discapacidad en relación con el ejercicio de sus derechos, y propone algunas líneas de acción estratégica para mejorar las políticas y las prácticas en dirección a la garantía y la restitución del derecho de todos los niños, las niñas y los adolescentes a crecer en un ámbito familiar y comunitario, y sin discriminación.

Reaching and Investing in Children at the Margins: Workshop Summary

Rapporteur; Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally; Board on Global Health; Board on Children, Youth, & Families; Health & Medicine Division; Division of Behavioral & Social Sciences & Education; National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine, 20 Jun 2016

To examine the science, economics, and politics of investing in the health, education, nutrition, and social protection of children at the margins, the Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally (iYCG Forum) held a workshop in Prague, Czech Republic, on November 3–4, 2015, titled, “Reaching and Investing in Children at the Margins.” This report summarizes the workshop and highlights the key learning from the event.

“It is My Dream to Leave This Place” Children with Disabilities in Serbian Institutions

Human Rights Watch, 08 Jun 2016

This report from Human Rights Watch focuses on the institutionalization of children with disabilities in Serbia.

National Action Plan for Children with Disabilities 2016/17-2020/21 (Uganda)

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 01 Jun 2016

The aim of the National Action Plan is to encourage government and other children’s rights actors to adequately plan for and respond to the holistic needs and aspirations of CWDs in Uganda.