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Students with physical and health impairments represent a small but growing group of individuals with diverse educational needs. They are those students whose physical limitations or health problems interfere with school attendance or learning to such an extent that special services, training, equipment, materials, or facilities are required. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of these impairments and acquaint both general and special educators with interventions for helping students with physical and health impairments succeed.

In this chapter, we discuss the use of technology to enhance learning for students with physical disabilities and other health impairments. In recent years, there has been significant growth in numbers, diversity, and academic orientation of persons with physical disabilities and other health impairments; therefore, it is incumbent on special educators to adopt and use appropriate emerging innovative technology to enhance student learning. Impactful laws (Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], Every Student Succeeds Act, Individuals with Disability Education Act, and Title II of ADA) provide impetus for advancing the policies on the use of technology by students with physical disabilities and other health impairments in the United States. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards also guide the development of educators' digital literacies and pedagogical practices that will harness technology for student learning. This chapter is organized around the ISTE Standards, US Department of Education policies, and the use of technology to aid students with physical disabilities and other health impairments.

The percentage of North Americans who have one or more physical disabilities continues to rise. Specifically, the percentage of people with ambulatory disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and other health impairments is increasing every year. This phenomenon calls for pragmatic measures to help provide better transition and related services to students with physical disabilities and other health impairments. It is anticipated that well-planned collaborative transition services provided to students with physical disabilities and other health impairments will result in improved quality of life and independent living in the community. In this chapter, we discuss transition and transition-related services, supporting legislation for persons with disabilities, transition from rehabilitation centers and hospitals to job settings and community-based programs.

The kinds of disabilities people experience frequently require “special” approaches to accommodate them in inclusive environments. In general, these people include students with physical disabilities and other health impairments. In a bid to provide diverse educational services for these students, scholars, educators, and government agencies have advocated for educational provisions in inclusive environments. A logical extension is that physical education classes can be taught in inclusive classrooms. The question is: How do we provide inclusive programs for students with physical disabilities and health impairments? This chapter answers this question by providing pedagogical strategies and opportunities for collaborative ventures for all professionals who work with students with physical disabilities and other health impairments.

All over the world, different types of disabilities affect people and their quality of life. And schools, families, and federal and state agencies are obligated to play very important roles in advancing special education values for students with physical and other health impairments. To maintain and advance these values, the needs of students must be met to the greatest extent possible. Advancing values comes with recognizing the strengths, preferences, interests, related services, community experiences, development of employment, other postschool adult living objectives, and the acquisition of daily living skills. The question is, are these values consistently met, especially for students with physical and other health impairments? This chapter answers this question by discussing how these values can be met and advanced for students with physical and other health impairments.

In this chapter, we discuss health-related physical fitness and motor development assessments for students with physical disabilities or other health impairments in special education using traditional and innovative techniques. Traditional assessment techniques are those that are more standardized and formalized, while innovative assessment techniques refer to new variations or ways (alternative/authentic) to assess the abilities of students with physical disabilities and other health impairments. According to the United States Department of Education (2009), students with disabilities must be included in State and local assessments. Even though there has been significant growth in numbers, diversity and academic orientation of persons with physical disabilities, assessments practices have largely remained the same over the years. Adopting innovative pedagogies and emerging innovative assessment techniques may address some unmet needs of current students with disabilities faced with assessment biases.

Throughout the ages, caring for an individual with a significant physical disability and/or health impairment has been extremely difficult or perhaps even impossible. Conditions for survival were often hard, requiring all able-bodied family members working from dawn until dark to scratch out even a minimal standard of living. Consequently, little time and resources were available for the care of a loved one with a disability. Safford and Safford's sobering volume (1996) emphasizes that children have always been vulnerable to neglect and children with disabilities were particularly subject to abuse. To illustrate this, children with disabilities were particularly subject to infanticide, abandonment, slavery, sterilization or placed in orphanages, where maiming sometimes occurred to increase the individuals' potential for street corner begging.

This paper aims to examine whether the health education and health promotion literature is inclusive of people with physical mobility impairments. The English government Department of Health statistics indicate that the number of people living with physical mobility impairments is increasing and this is largely a result of chronic illness survival. The current UK Government has set targets to reduce inequalities that disproportionally affect those with disabilities. In light of the above points, it was expected that this interest would be reflected by a growing health promotion literature.

In order to achieve an overview of health promotion offered for those with physical mobility impairments, a literature review was conducted. The literature was systematically reviewed using keywords and inclusion criteria. The range of published literature searched included research journals, health promotion texts, health and disability policy documents, as well as web sites offered on the internet.

There is a dearth in the information and development of health promotion for those with physical mobility impairments. Health policy documents offer little that is specifically focused for this group of people in particular. The majority of the relevant literature comes from the USA. Two theoretical positions are offered in the literature: one argues that those with physical impairments require a medical model approach to support individual's adjustment to society; and the other argues that emphasis should be placed on social change to accommodate those with physical impairments. While there are a range of initiatives in legislation and policy that utilise the social model position, the lack of UK health promotion interventions and the small number of US studies for improving the health of those with physical mobility impairments tends to encourage the medical model approach.

This review focuses particularly on health promotion for those with physical mobility impairments. Although not exhaustive, it highlights the need for further research into effective development of health promotion for those with physical mobility impairments in the UK.

Far more needs to be done to promote the health of those with physical mobility impairments. Both the medical model and social change approaches are required to deliver health promotion for this segment of the population.

There are no other reviews of the literature with a focus on physical mobility impairment and health promotion. This paper considers an often‐neglected group of people and identifies a need for effective health promotion information and resources.

This chapter is structured for teaching young learners with physical (orthopedic) disabilities in special education. Orthopedic impairments encompass a range of disabling conditions. Orthopedic impairments are typically grouped into three main categories: (1) congenital anomalies (CA) such as absence of a member or clubfoot, (2) impairments caused by disease such as bone tuberculosis (TB) or poliomyelitis, or (3) impairments for other causes to include amputations, fractures, cerebral palsy (CP), burns, or fractures. In the chapter, the authors present definitions of various orthopedic impairments and discuss their respective etiologies followed by discussions of specific disabling conditions. Students with orthopedic impairments present both challenges and opportunities to special education teachers as is evident in the following case of Amira, a girl with asthma and CP.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a group of disabled students’ views and feelings on disclosing the nature of their impairments by applying via Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS, 2016), using a numerical coding system. The adequacy of “disability” categories on both university and UCAS forms, and related sensitive issues will be central to this paper.

Thus, the author will visit the debates surrounding the two contrasting models of “disability”, namely, the individual medical and the social model of “disability”. The associated advantages and disadvantages that are ensued will be examined.

This paper will conclude by offering inclusive solutions to disclosure, which are sensitive to both impairment and cultural-related issues and encourage disclosure from students with a wide range of impairments. The benefits of all-encompassing inclusive practice and the resulting wider implications for the student population at large will, therefore, be highlighted.

There is an acute shortage of similar kinds of research conducted on disabled international students’ experiences of disclosure, which make the current work timely and original.