Given opportunities to flourish as others might, children with disabilities have the potential to

 lead fulfilling lives and to contribute to the social, cultural and economic vitality of their

communities – as the personal essays in this volume attest. Yet surviving and thriving can be especially difficult for children with disabilities. They are at greater risk of being poor than peers without disabilities. Even where children share the same disadvantages – of poverty or membership in a minority group, say – children with disabilities confront additional challenges as a result of their impairments and the many barriers that society throws in their way. Children living in poverty are among the least likely to enjoy the benefits of education and health care, for example, but children who live in poverty and have a disability are even less likely to attend their local school or clinic.