Law Commission calls for new definition of a “disabled child”

3 mins read

Wednesday 24 September 2025

The Law Commission is calling for a new definition of “disability” for disabled children.

This is one of 40 recommendations for reforming disabled children’s social care law it has submitted to the government.

What is wrong with the current definition?

The Children’s Act 1989 currently states that a child is disabled if they are “blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity”.

As well as being “ableist”, the definition is different from that used in special educational needs and disability (SEND) law. This adds “an unnecessary layer of complexity” and leaving local authorities using two separate definitions.

What definition of disability does the Law Commission want to see?

The Law Commission has recommended applying the Equality Act 2010 definition but extending it to include children born with conditions arising from parental addiction, or children who exhibit behaviour that challenges. The Equality Act definition excludes both these groups.

The Law Commission recommends that for the purposes of disabled children’s social care law, a child should be regarded as having a disability if both:

  • They have a physical or mental impairment.
  • The impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

The exclusions contained in regulations 3 and 4 of the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010 should not apply to this definition of disability.

What else does the report say?

The report also recommends that new statutory guidance should:

  • Clarify that a recognised medical diagnosis is not needed to satisfy this definition of disability.
  • Clarify that the definition can encompass the diverse range of conditions that can affect a child’s ability to perform daily activities.
  • Address the particular circumstances of disabled children in adoptive families.

Other recommendations include calls for a new legal framework, national eligibility criteria and a legal duty to assess and meet the needs of disabled children to make the social care system fairer and simpler.

Tell your MP to push government to act

Contact has welcomed the Law’s Commission’s final report, published last week. We are urging families to join us in our calls to the government to implement the reforms.

Parents can use our template email to ask their MP to urge the government to accept the reforms and implement them swiftly. (This will take less than a minute.)