The 'F-words' in childhood disability: I swear this is how we should think!

Abstract

The 21st century is witnessing a sea change in our thinking about 'disability'. Nowhere are these developments more apparent than in the field of childhood disability, where traditional biomedical concepts are being incorporated into--but expanded considerably by--new ways of formulating ideas about children, child development, social-ecological forces in the lives of children with chronic conditions and their families, and 'points of entry' for professionals to be helpful. In this paper, we have tried to package a set of ideas, grounded in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (the ICF), into a series of what we have called 'F-words' in child neurodisability--function, family, fitness, fun, friends and future. We hope this will be an appealing way for people to incorporate these concepts into every aspect of clinical service, research and advocacy regarding disabled children and their families.