A perennial issue in the field of childhood disability, and indeed a source of tension and dispute, has been reliance on a specific diagnosis as a passport to services. There are many well-recognized challenges to this idea: the imprecision of ‘diagnosis’ in our field; the lack of convergence between ‘diagnosis’ and functional needs; the evolving nature of diagnoses in our field.
Colleagues from around the world have contributed to the creation of the document below, designed to accomplish two goals. First it presents considerations of the value of thinking both diagnostically and in terms of the functional impacts of ‘diagnoses’. Second, it considers the implications of these ideas from the perspectives of families of children with these conditions, service providers, the service systems, the broader community, and researchers.
GPEC hopes these reflections are useful to people. We welcome comments and feedback to improve this document.
