Taking a strengths-based approach to developmental disability: the F-words for child development

BMJ Paediatrics Open - Dr Olaf Kraus de Camargo

“When challenges exist, children and families may benefit from supports that are tailored to their individual strengths and support needs, irrespective of whether or not a child has one or more diagnosed condition(s).”

Strengths-based and client-centred approaches in the field of childhood disability have been proposed in healthcare for decades, but in many places in the world, our service structures and therapeutic endeavours still are directed at fixing/compensating deficits in a prescriptive way. In the field of child developmental (disability) services, we have recently seen the publication of Canadian and Australian policies and frameworks that explicitly endorse this strengths-based approach, recommending in particular the use of the F-words for Child Development first published by CanChild scientists Peter Rosenbaum and Jan Willem Gorter in 2012.

This commentary reflects on how strength-based approaches and client-centred care, developed over the last 50 years, have culminated in a paradigm shift in how we define and promote ‘health’.

https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/9/1/e003418