Functional assessment of Chinese children with the Abilities index

Abstract

Summary

The diagnosis and classification of children with disabilities are persistent concerns in paediatric and habilitative services. These concerns are magnified in international contexts and restrict comparative research and policy development. Even within classifications such as mental retardation, hearing impairment and physical impairment, children can vary widely in the nature and severity of manifested conditions. In the fields of disability and rehabilitation there is a growing interest in functional measurement. Accompanying this awareness is a corresponding recognition of the value of classification approaches which are compatible with the WHO framework of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps. This paper examines issues pertaining to the classification of children with disabilities and describes the development of the ABILITIES Index, a functional assessment measure yielding a profile of individual characteristics. The cross-cultural applicability of the measure is documented on the basis of data for children in the People's Republic of China.

Key Words:

• childhood disability
• ICIDH
• functional assessment
• ABILITIES Index
• cross-cultural

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R. J. Simeonsson

It is with great sadness that we have to inform the readership of the Journal that shortly after completing the final editorial work on this Special Issue, Professor Kalman Jacob Mann was seriously injured in a car accident and subsequently died.

Professor Mann was responsible for establishing the two Hadassah Hospitals and Community Health Centres in Jerusalem and for the past 20 years headed the Presidium of Yad Sarah, Israel's largest community based, volunteer operated organization which provides a spectrum of free or nominal cost home care services nation-wide.

We offer our condolences to his family and friends, and trust that this Special Issue stands as a testament to his work in the field.