Speaking during National Childminding Week, association chief executive Gill Haynes said integration of services for disabled children with childminder networks was "still rare".
Many professionals in children's services still thought of childminders as "little more than regulated babysitters", she added, despite evidence showing that a significant proportion of registered childminders cared for children with impairments and many undertook specialist training to offer that care.
A survey of 200 registered childminders in England and Wales - included in the Make Chatter Matter report out this week - revealed they often had to seek out information and training themselves.
Haynes called for local authority investment in networks, which help childminders to access training and support, and more Government-funded research into childminders' role in caring for disabled children.
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