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Children
Special Issues
The Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities: Latest Advances
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The Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities: Latest Advances

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nursing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2025) | Viewed by 540

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Javier Güeita Rodríguez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine Department, Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), Madrid, Spain
Interests: aquatic therapy; functioning; disability and rehabilitation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Therapeutic interventions for children and youth with disabilities have evolved substantially over the past 15 years. The paradigm shift has primarily been driven by our addressing the underlying symptoms and impairments to improve function (through unimodal models and therapist-centred approaches), and our focusing on training programs for activities and tasks that are relevant to children in order to target full participation (through multimodal models with child-centred goals, more active practice, and individual adaptations of the task and environment). How are therapeutic approaches for children with disabilities evolving today?

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive and innovative overview of developments in clinical and translational research on new advances in the assessment and treatment of children with disability, promoting the highest standards of care and support for these children and their families.

This Special Issue welcomes original studies that enhance our understanding in this challenging field of healthcare science. All childhood disabling conditions can be addressed. We especially welcome studies that have the potential to change clinical care settings and health policy.

Prof. Dr. Javier Güeita Rodríguez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • childhood
  • disability
  • functioning
  • participation
  • training programs
  • healthcare services

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 4329 KiB  
Article
Surveying the Perspectives of Parents and Professionals on Providing Upright, Hands-Free, Self-Initiated Mobility to Children with Severe Physical and Communication Disabilities
by Fei Luo, Sarah W. Blackstone, Jesse Canchola and Vicki Casella
Children 2025, 12(8), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12081024 - 4 Aug 2025
Viewed by 314
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Children with severe physical and communication disabilities face many challenges. They have very limited opportunities for upright, hands-free, self-initiated mobility. Current findings in neuroscience and theories on child development suggest that self-initiated mobility can have positive cascading effects on various developmental [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Children with severe physical and communication disabilities face many challenges. They have very limited opportunities for upright, hands-free, self-initiated mobility. Current findings in neuroscience and theories on child development suggest that self-initiated mobility can have positive cascading effects on various developmental areas, including language and communication. This study was conducted to examine the current use of hands-free support walkers with children who have severe physical and communication disabilities and use augmentative and alternative communication and to identify the benefits and problems perceived by their parents and professionals from different disciplines. Methods: Online surveys were utilized to collect information from 127 participants, including 31 parents and 96 professionals or paraprofessionals. Results: The participants reported that these children could perform various motor activities in the hands-free support walkers to achieve different goals. Benefits identified by both parents and professionals included providing a way to exercise and stay active, improving motor control, enhancing independence, and bringing enjoyment. Professionals also observed positive impacts on communication, vocalization, use of eye contact, and problem solving. Conclusions: Results suggest that children with severe physical and communication disabilities can benefit from the upright, hands-free, self-initiated mobility provided by hands-free support walkers. Clinical implications and needs for future research are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities: Latest Advances)
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