ABSTRACT
Disabled children may be characterized both by what they share in common with others (whether disabled or children), and by what makes their situation different. This chapter addresses this in two ways. Firstly, it looks at a series of general questions about the nature of disability: whether “disabled people” constitute a distinct group; competing ways in which “disability” has been defined; and key normative questions which arise when we consider those theoretical issues in the context of childhood. Secondly, it briefly explores a series of representative focal points of debate: how children’s disabilities figure in our understanding of parental love and care; relations between disabled parents and their children; the moral status of children with cognitive disabilities; and education. While such cases pose highly specific ethical challenges, demanding analysis in their own right, they also resonate with and illuminate wider, more general matters concerning children’s needs, relationships and rights.
