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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Excluded from the Excluded: People with Intellectual Disabilities in (and out of) Official Development Assistance

Inclusion International, 2020

This report analyzes data available through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC)’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS), which reveals that many mainstream development projects fail to include people with intellectual disabilities, including children. The report includes guidance for ensuring CRPD-compliant project funding, including examples of community living projects that align with the CRPD, such as supporting the transition of people with disabilities from institutions to independent living and providing training for families on supporting their children with disabilities at home.

Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak

World Health Organization (WHO), 2020

This briefing from the World Health Organization (WHO) outlines actions for meeting the needs of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who experienced foster care: An ecological approach

Robin Marie Harwick, Deanne Unruh, Lauren Lindstrom - Child Abuse & Neglect, 12 Dec 2019

The purpose of the study was to uncover challenges during the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who experienced foster care and elucidate the supports most beneficial in addressing these challenges.

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Country Care Review: Portugal

Better Care Network, 09 Dec 2019

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: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Better Care Network , 05 Dec 2019

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.

‘Even though I Am Blind, I Am Still Human!’: the Neglect of Adolescents with Disabilities’ Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Contexts

Elizabeth Presler-Marshall, Nicola Jones & Kifah Bani Odeh - Child Indicators Research, 28 Nov 2019

Drawing on qualitative research undertaken with adolescents with disabilities from refugee and host communities in Jordan and the State of Palestine, this article critically interrogates the framing of child neglect, which to date has situated the state as a protector rather than a perpetrator, the narrow understanding of adolescent needs and the responsibility of international actors for ensuring that the full range of human rights of adolescents with disabilities is supported.

A Dead End for Children: Bulgaria’s Group Homes

Eric Rosenthal, Dragana Ciric Milovanovic, Laurie Ahern - Disability Rights International, 19 Nov 2019

The main finding of this report from Disability Rights International (DRI) is that Bulgaria has replaced a system of large, old orphanages with newer, smaller buildings that are still operating as institutions.

Country Care Review: Australia

Better Care Network, 01 Nov 2019

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.

Country Care Review: Republic of Korea

Better Care Network, 24 Oct 2019

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.

Country Care Review: El Salvador

Better Care Network, 01 Oct 2019

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 as part of its examination of El Salvador's initial reports, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.