Physical disabilities can have profound effects on children’s emotional and social development. To promote
growth, parents and teachers should avoid overprotection and encourage children to take risks within limits of
safety and health. Teachers and classmates should also understand that, although children with physical
disabilities and health impairments may be physically disabled, they are more like their classmates than different
from them.
Technology holds great promise for making the life of a child with a disability more “normal.” Computerized
devices, for example, can help nonvocal, severely physically involved children communicate, perhaps for the first
time.
Students who require recurring or long term hospital care for their condition may need special services such as
tutoring or homebound instruction to keep up with their class. Depending upon the nature of and severity of the
condition, counseling for the entire family may be helpful.