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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Family stressors and children's outcomes

Elizabeth Jones, Leslie Gutman, and Lucinda Platt , 2013

This new study from the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre, an independent research center with funding from the United Kingdom Department for Education, identifies which family stress factors and parental behaviors are associated with positive and negative outcomes for children at the age of 7 and whether stressful life events experienced in childhood are associated with negative outcomes in adolescence.

United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity

United States Government, 19 Dec 2012

The Action Plan on Children in Adversity is the first government wide strategic guidance for U.S. Government international assistance for children. The goal of the Action Plan is to achieve a world in which all children grow up within protective family care and free from deprivation, exploitation, and danger. It has three principal objectives, with Objective 2 specifically focusing on the importance of promoting family care and prevention of family-child separation.

India: Annual Report of the Ministry of Women and Child Development

The Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development, 01 Dec 2012

In its Annual report (2011-2012), the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development reports on progress in the implementation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a new policy and programmatic strategy that specifically articulates the need to move away in approach and services from over-reliance on institutional care and towards responses that support family based care.

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Belarus: System of Detection, Intervention, Care, and Rehabilitation of Children Under 3 with Special Needs

Elena Bogdan, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus, 22 Nov 2012

This presentation to the 2012 Sofia Conference introduces social services available in Belarus for the identification, intervention, care, and rehabilitation of children under the age of 3 with disabilities, in order to prevent their abandonment and placement in institutions.

Croatia: Positive Communication and Engaged Parenting: Prevention of Institutionalization of Children with Disabilities

Danica Kramarić - Head of Sector for the Promotion and Protection, Croatian Ministry of Health, 21 Nov 2012

This presentation to the 2012 Sofia Conference by Danica Kramarić, Head of Sector for the Promotion and Protection of Health, Croatian Ministry of Health, introduces how positive communication and engaged parenting are key deterrants of the placement of children with disabilities in institutions.

CEE/CIS: Child Care Systems Reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Why We Need to Focus on Children Below Three years

Jean-Claude Legrand, Senior Regional Advisor Child Protection, UNICEF CEE/CIS, 21 Nov 2012

This presentation to the 2012 Sofia Conference by Jean-Claude Legrand, Senior Regional Advisor Child Protection, UNICEF CEE/CIS, highlights the situation of children in formal care, with particular concern for children with disabilities, and recommends reform and policy initiatives to improve the childcare systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

BCN , 18 Oct 2012

Care related section of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia's third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (dated 18th October 2012).

Precautionary Measures Petition – 224 patients at the Federico Mora Hospital, Guatemala

Disability Rights International and the Human Rights Office of the Arch-Bishop of Guatemala , 12 Oct 2012

This petition was submitted to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) by Disability Rights International and the Human Rights Office of the Arch-Bishop of Guatemala requesting precautionary measures, in accordance with article 25 of the IACHR rules of procedure, on behalf 334 children and adults with disabilities detained at the National Mental Health Hospital in Guatemala City (“Federico Mora” hospital). The petition documents the serious risks of physical and psychological harm of those detained at Federico Mora.

De-institutionalisation and Quality Alternative Care for Children in Europe: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward

Eurochild and Hope and Homes for Children, 10 Oct 2012

This paper aims to raise awareness on the perverse effects of institutionalisation on children and it calls for comprehensive system reforms, starting with a transition towards family and community-based care. It highlights country level lessons learnt in the European context that demonstrate how deinstitutionalisation can be achieved in practice.

De-institutionalisation: Myth Buster

Eurochild and Hope and Homes for Children, 10 Oct 2012

This briefing paper seeks to address key misunderstandings about de-institutionalisation. It explains what it is and what it is not and addresses key questions often asked about the need for such institutions, the role they play and the impact of this transformation and what it entails.