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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Toolkit for Disability Inclusion in Care Reform: Understanding Disability Inclusion Training Resources

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Aug 2021

The Facilitator Manual for Understanding Disability, a training in disability inclusion, and the accompanying slides were designed by disability and care reform practitioners and consultants for CTWWC with an aim is to build the capacity and confidence of those working in family strengthening and children’s care for work with children with disabilities and their families.

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Toolkit for Disability Inclusion in Care Reform: Participation & Advocacy Learning Workshop Resources

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Aug 2021

The Facilitator Manual for the Participation & Advocacy Learning Workshop and the accompanying slides were designed by disability and care reform practitioners and consultants for CTWWC with an aim is to build the capacity and confidence of those working in family strengthening and children’s care for work with children with disabilities and their families.

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Cunoștințe, Atitudini, Practici Privind Reintegrarea Copiilor În Familii Și Prevenirea Separării În Republica Moldova

Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC), 21 Jul 2021

Studiul a evaluat cunoștințele, atitudinile și practicile populației generale în ceea ce privește reintegrarea copiilor în familii, integrarea copiilor cu dizabilități în școala și comunitate și prevenirea separării copiilor care trăiesc în familii vulnerabile.

Training Package for the Tubarerere Mu Muryango Programme (‘Let’s raise children in families’): Supporting Children with Disabilities and their Families

National Child Development Agency (NCDA), UNICEF, 04 Jun 2021

This is a Training Module for the Inshuti z’Umuryango volunteer community-based cadre to support the implementation of the Tubarerere Mu Muryango (TMM) Programme (‘Let’s raise children in families’) led by the National Child Development Agency (NCD).

Sexual victimization and intellectual disabilities among child welfare involved youth

Ann Carrellas, Stella M. Resko, Angelique G. Day - Child Abuse & Neglect, 25 Feb 2021

This study addresses a gap in the literature regarding older youth with intellectual disabilities who are sexually victimized and pushed to engage in transactional sex while they are transitioning from child welfare systems involvement. It does so by examining risk and protective factors at the individual, micro, exo, and macro systems levels.

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Emotion‐oriented coping and parental competency: An evidence‐based parenting intervention for parents of children with special educational needs

Man Yee Ho and Siya Liang - Child & Family Social Work, 23 Feb 2021

This study examines a promising new coping and parental competency (CPC) intervention for parents of children with special educational needs that targets parents' mental health outcomes.

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Strengthening Inclusion Strategies for Children with Disabilities (CWD) within the Context of Care Reform

Gwendolyn Burchell - UAFA, 01 Feb 2021

This paper will address one of the most challenging problems in development work which is commonly referred to as the ‘silo mentality’. In this case, this mentality affects how services for typical children are planned and implemented without including the needs of children with disabilities from the first planning step. Strategies are proposed that can help to bridge this gap.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) Study on Children with Disabilities Living in Families and Institutions in Rwanda

Hope and Homes for Children, Republic of Rwanda, University of Rwanda, 2021

This study is part of the response to the global call for the provision of quality alternative family-based care and prevention of family separation for children with disabilities. The study is premised on the view that the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the attributes assigned to, and the conceptualization of, children with disabilities in their families and communities, vis-à-vis institutional care for children with disabilities, are also crucial determinants of barriers/ enablers of full and meaningful integration of children with disabilities into community life in Rwanda.

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.