Editorial: Health and Children with Disabilities

As indicated in the call for papers for the special topic on “Health and Children with Disabilities,” known health disparities exist among children with disabilities, including but not limited to motor, social, and communication delays. Addressing these known health disparities and ultimately improving the health and quality of life of children with disabilities is critical for moving toward community inclusiveness throughout educational and public health-related services. Given that child development is dynamic and occurs through the interaction of the individual, environment, and the task, it is important to understand key determinants affecting the health of children with disabilities at an individual and community level. In this special topic, the editorial team welcomed contributions that employed various study types including single case studies, examination of key determinants of health, intervention, and relevant reviews, all targeted toward better understanding the health of children with disabilities. A majority of the contributing authors in this special topic are researchers within the field of adapted physical activity. This field embraces a broad perspective of inclusiveness and attitudes of acceptance. This perspective has been clearly articulated throughout this special topic and is thus an overarching theme throughout this e-book. Articles within this e-book are focused on the health of children with disabilities and various frameworks have been used to articulate the dynamic interaction of the individual, environment, and the task as it relates to child health. For the purpose of this editorial, an age-related chronological order has been used to describe the content and related manuscripts in this special topic.