Inclusion, social networks and resilience: strategies, practices and outcomes for disabled children and their families

Evans, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4599-5270 and Plumridge, G. (2007) Inclusion, social networks and resilience: strategies, practices and outcomes for disabled children and their families. Social Policy and Society, 6 (2). pp. 231-241. ISSN 1475-3073 doi: 10.1017/S1474746406003496

Abstract/Summary

This paper explores the strategies of service providers and the benefits reported by disabled children and their parents/carers in three Children's Fund programmes in England. Based on National Evaluation of the Children's Fund research, we discuss how different understandings of ‘inclusion’ informed the diverse strategies and approaches service providers adopted. While disabled children and families perceived the benefits of services predominantly in terms of building individual children's resilience and social networks, the paper highlights the need for holistic approaches which have a broad view of inclusion, support children's networks and tackle disabling barriers within all the spheres of children's lives.