11 Children With Disabilities

This chapter focuses on the Children Act together with an outline of related legislation, notably the Education Act 1981, the Disabled Persons Act 1986 and the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. It is estimated that in Great Britain there are approximatly 360 000 children under 16 with one or more disabilities, representing just over 3" of all children. The Children Act attempts to provide a new legal framework for such children who are, for the first time, specifically included in children&s;s legislation. Local authorities have important new functions in respect of the identification and assessment of children in need. Local authorities have a duty to provide services for children with disabilities which are designed to minimize the effects of their disabilities and to give them the opportunity to lead lives that are as normal as possible. The Education Act 1981 sought to reverse this process by de-stigmatizing special needs and integrating children with learning difficulties into mainstream education.