Profile of disability for children
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Some types of disabilities are not identified before age 5
The most widespread disabilities for children aged 0 to 4 are those related to a chronic health condition or a developmental delay
The transition from home to school is a key time in identifying learning disabilities in children
Among school-aged children, learning disabilities and chronic health conditions were the two most frequently reported disabilities
Speech, psychological and developmental disabilities are common in school-age children
Learning disabilities increase most for school age children between 2001 and 2006
Most school-aged children with disabilities have multiple disabilities
There is a link between agility and mobility disabilities for children aged 5 to 14
Multiple disabilities affect the severity of disability
1.5% of all children in Canada have a severe or very severe disability
Some types of disabilities are not identified before age 5
Considering the stages and the rate of children's physical, emotional and intellectual development, it is sometimes difficult to identify certain types of disabilities in children aged 0 to 4. Disability in young children can often be described only as a delay in development, whether physical, intellectual or other.
For children aged 0 to 4, the PALS identified the following five types of disabilities: hearing, seeing, chronic health conditions, delay, and other. For children aged 5 and over, the PALS identifies ten types of disabilities, substituting more specific types of disabilities for developmental delay, namely disability related to speech, mobility, agility or a psychological condition, as well as learning and developmental disabilities. For further information on the different types of disabilities, see the box entitled Type of disabilities among children.
The most widespread disabilities for children aged 0 to 4 are those related to a chronic health condition or a developmental delay
In 2006, 69.8% of children aged 0 to 4 with one or more disabilities had a chronic health condition-related disability, or 1.2% of all Canadian children under the age of 5. Chronic disability was one of the leading types of disabilities for both boys and girls within the 0 to 4 age group, with 1.4% of all boys and 0.9% of all girls within this age group experiencing a chronic health condition-related disability. The most common chronic conditions that were reported were asthma or severe allergies, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and autism. Some other conditions identified by PALS include cerebral palsy, migraines, complex medical care needs and heart conditions. Chronic health conditions that do not cause activity limitations are not considered a disability for the purpose of the PALS. The disability rate for this age group did not change substantially from 2001 to 2006, nor did their most common type of disability.
The transition from home to school is a key time in identifying learning disabilities in children
Learning disabilities are not always apparent until the child begins school and these difficulties are often diagnosed within the school setting. At the same time, the school system can provide specialized resources and services that may help to reduce activity limitations, such as those associated with speech difficulties.
Table 4 Type of disabilities among children with disabilities, by age group, Canada, 2006
Among school-aged children, learning disabilities and chronic health conditions were the two most frequently reported disabilities
In 2006, a disability related to learning affected 121,080 children aged 5 to 14. This represents 3.2% of all children aged 5 to 14 in Canada. Learning disabilities (69.3%) and chronic health conditions (66.6%) were reported most often among those with one or more disabilities. Learning and chronic disabilities were the leading types of disabilities reported for boys within this age group, with 4.1% of all boys experiencing a learning disability and 3.8% of all boys experiencing a chronic disability. Girls aged 5 to 14 were also most likely to experience either chronic health problem-related disabilities or learning disabilities (2.2% for each disability type).
Speech, psychological and developmental disabilities are common in school-age children
In 2006, 44.8% of children aged 5 to 14 with one or more disabilities reported a speech disability, making it the third most prevalent disability among this age group. This means that about 78,240 Canadian school-age children experienced a speech disability. Other commonly reported disabilities among school-aged children with disabilities were: psychological disabilities (34.5%) developmental (30.7%) and agility-related disabilities (21.3%). Of all school-age Canadian children, 60,310 reported a psychological disability, whereas 53,750 and 37,240 reported developmental and agility-related disabilities, respectively.
Types of disabilities among children
The PALS survey questions allow the identification of the following types of disabilities among children under 15:
Hearing 3 : Difficulty hearing.
Seeing 3 : Difficulty seeing.
Speech 4 : Difficulty speaking and/or being understood.
Mobility 4 : Difficulty walking. This means walking on a flat firm surface, such as a sidewalk or floor.
Agility 1,4: Difficulty using hands or fingers to grasp or hold small objects, such as a pencil or scissors.
Learning 4 : Difficulty learning due to the presence of a condition, such as attention problems, hyperactivity or dyslexia, whether or not the condition was diagnosed by a teacher, doctor or other health professional.
Developmental delay 5 : Child has a delay in his/her development; a physical, intellectual or another type of delay.
Developmental disability or disorder 4 : Cognitive limitations due to the presence of a developmental disability or disorder, such as Down syndrome, autism or mental impairment caused by a lack of oxygen at birth.
Psychological 4 : Limited in the amount or kind of activities that one can do due to the presence of an emotional, psychological or behavioural condition.
Chronic condition 3 : Limited in the amount or kind of activities that one can do due to the presence of one or more chronic health conditions that have lasted or are expected to last six months or more and that have been diagnosed by a health professional. Examples of chronic conditions are asthma or severe allergies, heart condition or disease, kidney condition or disease, cancer, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Spina Bifida, Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc.
Other 2,3: The type of disability is 'other' if the respondent answered YES to the general questions on activity limitations, but did not provide any YES to the questions about type of disability that followed.
1. In 2006 the disability type 'dexterity' was renamed 'agility'.
2. In 2006 the disability type 'unknown' was renamed 'other'.
3. Applicable to all children under 15.
4. Applicable to children aged 5 to 14.
5. Applicable to children under 5.
Aside from children who reported having one of the above-listed disabilities, 3.6% of activity-limited children aged 5 to 14, or, 0.2% of all Canadian children of this age group reported another disability that the 2006 PALS did not target specifically.
Chart 10 Types of disabilities among children with disabilities aged 5 to 14 years, by sex, Canada, 2006
Learning disabilities increase most for school age children between 2001 and 2006
The disability rate for children aged 5 to 14 increased from 4.0% in 2001 to 4.6% in 2006. The increase in learning disabilities (from 2.6% to 3.2% of school-aged children) provided the largest part of the increase but chronic disabilities, psychological disabilities and speech disabilities all showed an increase of at least 0.3 percentage points. As seen in Chart 11, the rate for agility disabilities showed a small increase and the rate of seeing and hearing disabilities did not change for school-aged children.
Chart 11 Disability rates by type of disability for children aged 5 to 14 years, Canada, 2001 and 2006
Most school-aged children with disabilities have multiple disabilities
About half of all children with disabilities under the age of five reported a single disability in 2006, with slightly more than 40% reporting two disabilities, and just less than 9% reporting three or more (see Table 5). For children with a disability between the ages of 5 and 14, the likelihood of having several disabilities was much higher. In fact, almost three-quarters of school-aged children with a disability reported having multiple disabilities. Only 26.3% of children aged 5 to 14 years experienced a single disability, 36.5% had between two and three, 26.2% had between four and five and 11.1% experienced six or more disabilities (see Table 6).
Table 5 Number of disabilities reported for children aged 0 to 4 years with disabilities, Canada, 2006
Table 6 Number of disabilities reported for children aged 5 to 14 years with disabilities, Canada, 2006
There is a link between agility and mobility disabilities for children aged 5 to 14
For 5- to 14-year-old children in Canada who reported one or more disabilities, there is a correlation between agility and mobility-related disabilities. That is, children from this age group who experienced a mobility disability were more likely to have an agility disability as well, and vice versa. This is the most common combination of multiple disabilities.
In 2006, 21.3% of respondents reporting at least one disability reported an agility disability as well. Furthermore, 32.4% of respondents with an agility disability also reported a mobility disability. Of all respondents with at least one disability, 6.9% experienced both agility and mobility participation and activity limitations. Altogether, these individuals accounted for slightly less than 10.0% of all multiple disability combinations.
Multiple disabilities affect the severity of disability
The number of disabilities influences the degree of severity of a child's disability. In other words, the severity of overall disability depends not only on the severity of each type of disability, but also the number of disabilities experienced by an individual. Children with multiple disabilities tended to experience a higher overall degree of severity. For further information on the development of the PALS severity scale, see the box entitled Severity of Disability.
1.5% of all children in Canada have a severe or very severe disability
Of the 202,350 Canadian children aged 0 to 14 with disabilities, 58.3% reported having a mild to moderate disability whereas 41.7% reported having a severe to very severe disability.
As shown in Table 7, 63.5% of children with a disability aged 0 to 4 reported having a mild to moderate disability. For children with disabilities between the ages of 5 and 14, the greatest portion reported having a mild disability (33.5%) followed by moderate (24.0%) and severe (23.6%), and very severe (18.9%) disabilities (see Table 8).
Table 7 Severity of disability among children aged 0 to 4 years with disabilities, Canada, 2001 and 2006
Table 8 Severity of disability among children aged 5 to 14 years with disabilities, Canada, 2001 and 2006
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