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.

Displaying 71 - 80 of 462

Browse Other Topics

National Survey of Residential Centres for Children with Disabilities in Rwanda

Hope and Homes for Children, Republic of Rwanda, 2021

This report presents the findings from the National Survey of Residential Centres for Children with Disabilities in Rwanda. The survey aimed at gathering comprehensive and disaggregated data related to residents’ characteristics, staff profile, and the minimum standards for the centres.

Buenas prácticas en la prestación de servicios de cuidado residencial de la niñez y adolescencia en Guatemala

Changing the Way We Care, 2021

Cambiando la Forma en que Cuidamos (o sus siglas en inglés, CTWWC) Guatemala realizó un estudio con el objetivo de identificar y documentar buenas prácticas en la prestación de servicios de cuidado residencial, con el objetivo de transformar los servicios de cuidado a la niñez en Guatemala.

Webinar Recording: Nurturing Care For Children With Developmental Delays And Disabilities

Aga Khan Foundation, ECDAN, The Lego Foundation, UNICEF, 09 Dec 2020

This webinar highlighted how children with developmental delays and disabilities can have the best chance to not only survive, but also thrive. The webinar delved into the challenges, emerging research from Kenya, and practical country examples from Mozambique, Tajikistan and Peru.

View Webinar Recording

Webinar Recording: Children with Disabilities in Adversity - Institutions and Protection of Family Life in COVID19 pandemic and sustainable development

Disability Rights International, Validity Foundation, European Network for Independent Living, 04 Dec 2020

Disability Rights International, Validity Foundation, and the European Network for Independent Living, Youth Network Board hosted a webinar on children with disabilities in adversity as part of the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

View on Facebook

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.

View Event Recording

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.

View Article

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.

View Article

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.

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.

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.