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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Training Manual for Caregivers of Children with Disabilities

Republic of Ghana Department of Social Welfare, UNICEF, 01 Oct 2020

This Training Manual for Caregivers of Children with disabilities has been developed to equip caregivers of children with disabilities (which include biological parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, caregivers in institutions, caregivers in day care centers, healthcare providers, teachers of special needs schools, etc.) with the needed knowledge and skill in order for them to be able to provide the required quality of care for the children for them to grow and develop well and become productive in society.

Measuring parenting capacity for disabled children using a child protection assessment

Susan Flynn - Journal of Social Work, 17 Sep 2020

This paper provides a critical commentary on approaches to assessments of the capacity of parents of disabled children. International review of literature on this subject matter is enacted across three themes.

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Inquiry concerning Hungary under article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 17 Sep 2020

This report presents the findings from a visit conducted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 21 January to 1 February 2019. Findings include those regarding children with disabilities, including those in institutional care.

Profile of neurodevelopmental and behavioural problems and associated psychosocial factors among a cohort of newly looked after children in an English local authority

Michael Ogundele - Adoption & Fostering, 16 Sep 2020

This study seeks to assess the prevalence of childhood neurodisabilities and related neurodevelopmental, emotional, behavioural and intellectual problems (NDEBIPs) among a cohort of children coming into care in an English local authority.

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Zimbabwe's National Case Management System for Child Protection and Enhanced Rights Realisation for Children with Disabilities

Tatenda Nhapi - African Journal of Social Work, 15 Aug 2020

The author of this study did a synthesis of the existing academic and policy literature and uses social work lens to undertake a situational analysis of current Zimbabwean child protection system dynamics with regards to Children with Disabilities hereafter referred to as CWDs.

Safety through inclusion: The case for emergency deinstitutionalisation

European Network on Independent Living - ENIL, 11 Jun 2020

In this webinar, a panel including persons with disabilities and experts in disaster management, human rights and service provision discuss the need for “emergency deinstitutionalisation” of persons with disabilities and how this could be achieved.

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COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor

Validity Foundation, European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), International Disability Alliance (IDA), Disability Rights International (DRI), Disability Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, International Disability and Development Consortium, 02 Jun 2020

A coalition of six disability rights organisations has launched a major international monitoring initiative entitled “COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor” to conduct rapid independent monitoring of state measures concerning persons with disabilities.

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Policy Brief: A Disability-Inclusive Response to COVID-19

United Nations, 19 May 2020

This Policy Brief by the United Nations highlights the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities and in doing so, outlines key actions and recommendations to make the response and recovery inclusive of persons with disabilities.

Webinar Recording: Care During COVID-19

Family for Every Child, 12 May 2020

In this online event, Family for Every Child members FSCE (Ethiopia), The Mulberry Bush (UK), Praajak (India) and CSID (Bangladesh) discussed children's care in the context of COVID-19.

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Institutionalization of Children with Disabilities in Croatia: Social Workers' Perspectives

Maja Laklija, Marina Milić Babić, & Leah P. Cheatham - Child & Youth Services , 20 Apr 2020

This study aims to advance understanding of social workers’ perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions.

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