Discrimination Against Disabled Children: UK Legal Framework Analysis

This report delves into the multifaceted issues surrounding discrimination against disabled children within the UK legal framework. It begins with an introduction highlighting the challenges disabled children face, including mental incapacity and difficulties in daily and social life. The report then explores key legislations like the Children Act 1989, Mental Capacity Act, and Equality Act 2010, emphasizing their roles in protecting the rights of disabled children and preventing discrimination. Case law, such as Hillingdon vs Buckinghamshire and K children (2012) EWHC, is examined to illustrate how courts have addressed educational needs and parental responsibilities for disabled children. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of these legal instruments in fostering a society where disabled children can live normal, fulfilling lives, and calls for the consistent implementation of these laws to bridge the gap between legislation and practical adjustments. The references include books, journals, and online resources, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic.

Disabled children

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND....................................................................................3
LEGISLATIONS.............................................................................................................................4
Children act 1989..................................................................................................................4
Mental capacity Act..............................................................................................................4
Equality Act 2010.................................................................................................................5
CASE LAW.....................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
The main purpose in this project is to discuss about the problems of disabled children’s and also
about the disability and the discrimination that has been faced when in they are born and survive
in the society. Usually the disability is being characterised as the mental incapacity and the
difficulty for doing the daily activities and which affect the entire life and social life of the
person mainly the children’s. It is the condition that impacts the brain and about to cause
difficulty in processing and maintaining the information which is caused to be the main factor.
As mainly being analysed children are mainly those who had not attained the major age of 18
years. And when such age group feels any disability and any discrimination due to their
disability are being called as disabled child(Davis, and et. al.,2020).
According to Mencap (2021), In UK the disability in the children is mainly being rise in various
areas as they used to face so much difficulty in learning and that mainly called as intellectual
disability in which there are certain difficulties to the children they are like dyspraxia and
dyslexia. Both are different and interchangeable from each other than that the children’s used to
face major problems like the brains are not that developed so they were not being able to socially
interact and to attend the social gatherings is a bit more difficult. As also being seen the children
use to face major issue and which results them to be depressed and feeling secure in all the
sense. There are merely various cases through which this all affects are being made and certain
implications are being transferred (Page, 2020).
The disabled children usually do not get the proper rights and the place in the society. So there
family needs to get a proper counselling in all the send and also they must attain a proper
education and welfare facility in all the sense.
Also children’s face a major discrimination as they were not being included in the society like
the other people the main issue which they used to face are in education, in all the facilities like
in their daily basis ,household activities, in their marriage, in social gatherings and to attain the
higher education. The disability in the children’s and the discrimination in them impacts the
direct individuality as they used to be treated less favourably and with that they used to face an
indirect discrimination where all the rules and the policies that seem to be made equally for the
disabled person in an unfair advantages as being made to the person who are not that disabled.
Another major issue faced by the disabled child are like they are treated less favourably and due

to that there is no good reason as to do such things and through such activities they used to face a
major discrimination and harassment and discrimination against the disabled child mainly at
their education sector is a major cause that they had been treated unfairly at all the times.
Through which they used to make certain adjustment in their life like they cannot go to a normal
school and cannot study with the able students (Chatelin and et.al., 2019).
It is a major duty of all the parents and the teachers to treat their disable children’s favourably
and to boost their morale in a positive way there are various examples in which the children used
to face a major discrimination in the education sector due to being disabled. There has been a
need of strict laws through it all the person who used to Think that disabled children are not well
to be fit in the society. Should be treated and punished in a legalised way and all the disabled
children should get all the facilities that they used to be attained.
LEGISLATIONS
Children act 1989
This act is being made in order to protect and promote the welfare of the children in all over
UK. The main purpose of this act is to protect the child who are disable such as blind deaf or
dumb or suffer any mental disorders and are even being handicapped or suffering any personal
injury(McAnelly, and Gaffney2018).
There are various departments who used to protect such children’s by identifying them and
providing information to all the departments who used to take care of such children they used to
register all the disabled children and provide them services in order to minimize and make them
to lead the normal life as possible(Government of United Kingdom, 2020).
Through this act the government used to provide a children’s families guidance and counseling
through which they can recreate and help in order to make the occupational cultural or
recreational activities for their children and also to attend them to lead a normal life .With that
the local education authority in UK tries to provide a proper education to such children who are
being disabled and also provide their families are spite care and joint funded residential
education areas through which they can give their disable children’s better education facility.
Mental capacity Act
This act is being made to all the disabled people who are not being able to lead their life properly
like a normal people and protect their right from being the lack of capacity and vulnerability.

The government used to protect such people by making the decisions that are better for them in
providing them equal treatment in the society and do not lead them like an incapable person
(Learning Disability, 2021). This mainly help the disabled people and the children to get
encouraged and make proper decision in the society and also takes counselling To their families
and give them a proper idea through which they can also deal with that such children and people.
Thus through all such acts and the practises this is being implicated that the protection of the
children can be attained and they have the right to be treated fairly and equally in all manner and
through the wellness in all the necessary areas (Pandya, 2017).
Equality Act 2010
It is the most important act which used to help and protect the disabled persons right and protect
them from the negative effect and make them able to carry out all the regular everyday’s activity.
There are various person who have been affected and disabled and through this they also protect
the disabled children and make them to live their normal life and get better education like the
able children through equality act the children are being protected and get all the facilities of
counselling guidance and the financial help so as they can lead a normal life.
In order to avoid discrimination such act has been made and they said provide equal treatment
and no discrimination among the people and the lifestyle through this the reasonable adjustment
has been made in order to make the recruiting procedure of education sector to disabled children.
CASE LAW
Hillingdon vs Buckinghamshire
The court held that the appeal in order to concern of the educational need for the disabled young
people and the children and for the compulsory school it has been approved as the education for
the disabled children is important and they have a right to be freely educated just like the normal
people. This case has also provided a compulsory school education for disabled and young
people and the upper tribunal give important guidance about the future qualification of the
students.
K children (2012) EWHC
The court held that the local authorities have to take care of all the disabled children as they used
to carry a parental responsibility for such children’s and also formulate a pair better care facility

and provide them good enough respect and a normal leading life so as they will not feel insecure.
The judge also held that the disabled children have the right continue to live at home and also to
recite and lead a future by gaining a better education.
CONCLUSION
From this above report it is concluded that, equality act, children act and the mental capacity
used to be a great support in order to make the children lead a normal life. As a equality act
promotes and prevents the discrimination the children act lead them to protect and a normal life
by providing the counseling and the benefits to their families. But as been seen there is always a
gap said by the legislation and the reasonable adjustment has to be made. By the disabled
persons. Furthermore all these acts held that person and the children to lead a normal human.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Davis, and et. al., 2017. Disabled children, ethnography and unspoken understandings.
Routledge.
Page, N.W., 2020. Relationships of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and the Illinois
Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities when administered to learning disabled
children (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Libraries).
Chatelin and et.al., 2019. Facilitating the collective expression of parents of disabled children at
a scientific conference. European Journal of Public Health, 29(Supplement_4),
pp.ckz185-831.
McAnelly, K. and Gaffney, M., 2018. Achieving Citizenship for All: Theorising Active
Participation for Disabled Children and Their Families in Early Childhood Education.
In Belonging: Rethinking Inclusive Practices to Support Well-Being and Identity (pp.
56-72). Brill Sense.
Pandya, S.P., 2017. Spirituality and parents of children with disability: Views of
practitioners. Journal of Disability & Religion, 21(1), pp.64-83.
Online
Learning Disability, 2021 [Online] Available Through <https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/learning-
disabilities/>
Mencap Organisation, 2021 [Online] Available Through <https://www.mencap.org.uk/learning-
disability-explained/research-and-statistics/employment-research-and-statistics>
Government of United Kingdom, 2021 [Online] Available Through <http://www.gov.uk>