Shared Decision Making Interventions for Parents of Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Systematic and Scoping Review.

Physical disabilities (PD) impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and youth each year. While it is challenging to find data on the prevalence of PD as an encompassing category, statistics on the prevalence of specific conditions in the United States can provide an indication of how common PD in children and youth are (). However, this is only a subset of PD and does not take other countries into account, which only further highlights the significant local and global impact of PD on the lives of children. Incidence or prevalence of physical disabilities in youth in the United States. Furthermore, disabilities have significant psychological effects on young people. Youth with disabilities have prolonged adolescence and lower self-esteem, are more vulnerable to negative experiences, and are at a higher risk for bullying compared to their peers. Children with PD in particular have been found to have greater functional impairment socially, academically, and physically, and are at higher risk of psychosocial issues when compared to children without visible, physical differences. Youth are also at a higher risk socially due to being less involved in social activities because of health-related barriers. Children with visible facial conditions are more likely to have lower self-esteem, poor body image, higher stigma, and less social acceptance. Young people with spina bifida and epilepsy report a lower health-related quality of life and poorer psychosocial adaptation than youth with other chronic health conditions.