Article 23
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1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent
life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active
participation in the community.
2. States 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.
3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph
2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the
financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that
the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services,
rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive
to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his
or her cultural and spiritual development
4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate
information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional
treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning
methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to
improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard,
particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries