Participation in Children with Physical Disabilities and in Typically Developed Children---A Longitudinal Study

Based on the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children with disabilities should have equal opportunities in participation as typically developed children. Participation is defined as ‘involvement in life situations’ based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health (ICF) (2001) and its child and youth version (ICF-CY) (2007) published by the World Health Organization (WHO). Based on the concept of human right and disability-related research, promoting participation is an ultimate outcome of pediatric rehabilitation and services planning for educational placement for children with physical disabilities. Research indicated that school-aged children with physical disabilities had more restrictions in participation in daily activities than children with typical development. Restriction in participation may lead to adverse consequences, such as social isolation, limited life experiences, or decreased quality of life. In particular, children with physical disabilities might experience more restrictions in school setting than in home setting. Studies from western countries regarding participation of children with physical disabilities are mostly cross-sectional studies and age-based norms are not provided. When measuring participation of children with physical disabilities, children with typical development should be used as a reference to understand their changes of participation with age. In Taiwan, studies are more focused on functional performance, and limited measures are available for measuring multiple dimensions of participation in children with physical disabilities. Therefore, we propose a four-year research project and the purposes are to: (1) compare participation patterns between children with disabilities and their age-matched peers without disabilities, (2) determine changes in participation patterns with age in school-aged children with and without physical disabilities, and (3) identify the relationships between participation of school-aged children and related child characteristics and environmental factors. Our research team will collaborate with professors in the United States (US) and Sweden to determine changes in participation over 4 years in approximately 125 children with physical disabilities and 125 children with typical development, and then conduct the cross-cultural comparison with the US and Sweden. This follow-up study will provide information about how participation changes with age and identify factors related to participation in school-aged children with physical disabilities. This study will have implications for optimizing desired participation of children with physical disabilities including planning intervention strategies in clinical practice to achieve the right-based participation goals. Keywords: Participation, ‘International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health (ICF) ’, ‘International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health (ICF)- Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) ’, Physical disabilities, Child, School age

Project ID:PC10301-0143
External Project ID:NSC102-2628-B182-001-MY3