The Forms of Abuse and Neglect of Children with Disabilities

Abstract

This chapter examines the forms of maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, and psychological abuse, and neglect that prevail in the lives of children with disabilities. We analyze data from large data bases, including the U.S. DHHS and the available databased research in this area. We present our findings following an analysis of the newspaper coverage of the abuse and neglect of children with disabilities (ANCD) and illustrate these findings with stories about the children and adults represented by these numbers. We complete this chapter with a discussion of the implications of these findings for research and practice. We provide reflection and critical thinking exercises throughout the chapter. Children with and without disabilities are maltreated – abused and neglected every day in the United States and all over the world. They endure maltreatment in the forms of physical and sexual abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, and neglect perpetrated by caregivers at home, in hospitals, schools, and other institutions. What constitutes child maltreatment? When do we decide that a child is maltreated? Who actually decides? What constitutes the abuse of a child? What is neglect of a child? Is violence against children the same as child maltreatment? We may indeed wonder why these become complex questions. Child-by-child differences among children with disabilities contribute to their complexities. For example, a child with autism may be emotionally traumatized by the same noise that other children would hardly notice. Likewise, the health and welfare of a child with cerebral palsy may be put at-risk by improper physical positioning. We begin this chapter with an analysis of the terminology we use to communi-cate about child maltreatment. We examine what we know from the large national and international databases and analyze the literature on the prevailing forms of maltreatment to which children with disabilities are exposed. We examine the findings of the newspaper study and provide case examples that illustrate our