SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT AND FUNCTIONING OF CHRONICALLY ILL AND IMPARED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

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Abstract
A cluster sample of 532 children aged 8 to 19 years with certain impairments were compared to a matched sample of 316 healthy children of the same age. Almost half (46 %) of the impaired had a disability, which was mostly in the domain of body disposition ability (in 88 %), behaviour (63 %) and situational functioning (54 %). In the controls, where 12 % had some kind of disability, the corresponding figures were 13 %, 11 % and 15 %. The most disabling conditions were CP (67 % handicapped), MBD (52 %) and epilepsy (42 %). The most frequent non‐compènsated handicaps were those of occupation (44 % of impaired), mobility (31 %) and social integration (22 %). More than one handicap was associated most frequently with CP (76 %) and with epilepsy (36 %). Neurological impairments are more disabling and handicapping than non‐neurological ones, with the exception of mobility and occupation handicaps in asthmatics.