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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No Justice: Torture, Trafficking and Segregation in Mexico

Disability Rights International, 22 Jul 2015

This report from Disability Rights International (DRI) outlines the findings from a two-year investigation into the treatment of children and adults with mental disabilities in Mexico City, particularly those in the care of state-funded and private residential facilities.

The Vital Few foster parents: Replication and extension

John G. Orme, Donna J. Cherry - Children and Youth Services Review, 11 Jun 2015

This study replicated and extended previous research which identified the small proportion of highly productive foster parents who provide a disproportionate amount of care in the United States. This study used a nationally representative sample of foster families (N = 876) with a focus on willingness to foster, and actually fostering, children with special needs.

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Country Care Review: Ghana

Better Care Network, 09 Jun 2015

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

Country Care Review: Mexico

Better Care Network, 08 Jun 2015

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.

Universal Periodic Review – Bulgaria 2015: Lumos’ recommendations to protect the human rights of children in the deinstitutionalisation process in Bulgaria

Georgette Mulheir, Chief Executive - Lumos, 01 May 2015

In this paper, Lumos reviews Bulgaria’s national strategy on deinstitutionalisation, adopted in 2010, and provides recommendations for ensuring the rights of children in the process.

Compendium of promising practices to ensure that children under the age of three grow up in a safe and supportive family environment

UNICEF, 01 May 2015

This Compendium is a compilation of the most encouraging initiatives in the area of prevention of child abandonment and relinquishment that have been implemented and tested in the CEE/CIS region.

Country Care Review: Dominican Republic

Better Care Network, 17 Apr 2015

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

Country Care Review: Cook Islands

Better Care Network, 17 Apr 2015

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committees' recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Country Care Review: Turkmenistan

Better Care Network, 17 Apr 2015

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

No Way Home: The Exploitation and Abuse of Children in Ukraine’s Orphanages

Eric Mathews, Eric Rosenthal, Laurie Ahern, Halyna Kurylo - Disability Rights International , 16 Apr 2015

This report is a product of a three-year investigation by Disability Rights International (DRI) into the abuses experienced by children - both with and without disabilities - in large-scale institutions, psychiatric facilities, and boarding schools in Ukraine, of whom there are nearly 100,000, according to the report.