Council on Children with Disabilities

What is an AAP Council?
Each Council is the primary source of expertise in a given field within the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This membership entity represents the evolution of Sections and Committees working in the same field into a new, integrated structure. An executive committee, elected by the council membership, governs each Council. Although Councils fulfill the functions traditionally held separately by national Committees and Sections, their scope, as a single entity, is expanded to encompass a broader vision and a wider array of activities. Councils generate policy, create educational programming and resources, develop and promote advocacy initiatives, support translation of policy and education into practice, and integrate and evaluate these efforts to maximize impact. The Council structure is designed to give its members a strong voice in policy development and in other Council activities.

What is the Council on Children with Disabilities?
The AAP Council on Children with Disabilities (COCWD) is composed of nearly 500 AAP Fellows who care for or have an interest in children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Members of the COCWD are dedicated to the optimal care and development of children with disabilities and to the support of their families within a medical home.

The mission of the COCWD specifically includes:

• Policy development related to children with disabilities and providing ways to implement that policy into practice;
• Development of a forum to enhance education of pediatricians caring for children with disabilities;
• Increasing the visibility of issues related to children with disabilities within the AAP;
• Collaboration with local and national organizations in advocacy for children and their families, and;
• Providing opportunities for COCWD members to engage in all the above.

COCWD members include neurodevelopmental pediatricians, developmental and behavioral pediatricians, geneticists, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons, physiatrists, and general pediatricians. The COCWD Executive Committee is dedicated to providing members with a forum for education, communication, and advocacy.

The COCWD maintains liaison relationships with the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Family Voices. Through these partnerships, the COCWD has been able to expand their mission to help pediatricians implement policy into their practices.

The COCWD holds its organizational meetings (ie, council program, business meeting and award presentation) and hosts educational programs annually at the AAP's National Conference and Exhibition (NCE).

An annual award is sponsored by the COCWD (Arnold J. Capute Award) to recognize notable contributions to the field of children with disabilities.

COCWD collaborates with the National Center for Medical Home Implementation to ensure access to a medical home providing health care services that are accessible, family-centered, continuous, comprehensive, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally-competent.

The COCWD connects with its members through a “members-only” Listserv®, a tri-annual e-Newsletter, a comprehensive Website with resources that complement COCWD policies, and numerous educational offerings presented each year at the AAP’s National Conference and Exhibition (NCE), as well as CME-bearing Webinars on COCWD topics. The COCWD offers members many exciting opportunities to participate in a variety of activities including: providing expert opinion and review on AAP publications, providing feedback on current policy, submitting ideas for educational topics, and serving as faculty on COCWD-sponsored education sessions. If you’d like to become a COCWD member, visit the Membership page for more details.

For more information about the COCWD, please contact Stephanie Skipper, MPH, Manager, Division of Children with Special Needs at 847/434-4918 or fill out the Contact Us form.