Children With Special Needs in Family Therapy

With the advances in diagnostic sciences over the past three decades, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of identified families who have children with special needs. Family has been defined in a multitude of ways. For the purpose of this entry, family is defined as a nuclear unit containing one or more parents (biological or stepparents) with or without children other than the child or children with special needs. Special needs is presently defined as diagnosed limitations in physical, mental, and/or social abilities as a result of a medical condition, injury, or genetic anomaly—including affiliated behavioral issues. The term special needs is often used interchangeably with disabled. Some have advocated the use of the term differently abled, but others, including some people ...