Article 23 Research Paper

The UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 23 (2) states that “Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child's condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child.” This was my right as a child to have proper support, to have someone recognize my mental disability. It was my right to have my disability treated by a health care professional and yet I did not receive any support. Accommodations in school were not available to me either nor did I receive support at home.

If we search for the term ‘disabled’ online, one would find the meaning to be “having a physical or mental condition that limits movements, senses, or activities.” However, in my childhood, it also meant not being treated as an equal part of society, missing the opportunity to get proper accommodations that I needed to complete my education, not getting the correct health care, and being singled out as unable to participate in recreational opportunities. Another occasion when I did not receive the support I should have because of my disability occurred when I was eleven years old, my mother was diagnosed with a very rare type of cancer. Even though I was the youngest in the family, and had a disability, being a girl, the responsibility of taking care the house was mine. There was a lot of stress, along with the added pressure to successfully manage both school and home along with my mother’s illness. This responsibility overwhelmed me and I began to experience depressive moods and severe