The history of awareness regarding child abuse and neglect has followed a familiar pattern. Long years/decades of silence. Growing awareness on the part of concerned persons. The struggle to bring the issue into public light. The denial; angry rejection of survivors’ revelations; the refusal to follow through on promised interventions, legal action, care. Finally, a growing acceptance of fact.

Over and over again, this pattern has prevailed whether it was in situations involving Native Americans or children raised in institutional settings or…the list goes on and on. In recent years, we have seen a growing awareness that children with disabilities have certainly been victimized by all forms of abuse and neglect.

As someone who has worked full-time in the disability community for over thirty years, the continuous revelations by abuse survivors who are disabled have left me frustrated and angry. Frustrated because these people were often less able to fend off abuse than their able bodied peers. Angry because the very institutions that were supposed to care for them were often breeding grounds for such victimization.

At the same time, most child protection, child advocacy, child care agencies and organizations have routinely ignored the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act or pretended the legislation does not apply to them. In response, I have proposed a statement on the Rights of the Disabled Child Traumatized by Abuse and Neglect. Does it say it all? No. Does it address every situation? Obviously not. My goal is simply that it become a stimulus for conversation among professionals and concerned individuals in this field of abuse and neglect.

THE RIGHTS OF THE DISABLED CHILD

TRAUMATIZED BY ABUSE & NEGLECT

In the world, one of every six children is a victim of abuse. At least one of every six children with disabilities suffers abuse (most estimates make this one of every three). Yet, this same population of children with disabilities….

….may be disabled because of abuse

….are prime targets for abuse because of the neglect often associated with children who

are disabled

….often have their communication about abuse ignored because they are disabled

….are denied accessibility to treatment programs because of their disabilities

….are disenfranchised by a criminal justice system that has no skill in dealing with

children who are disabled.

The family situations of many of these children with disabilities create a milieu where neglect and abuse are prevalent. The lack of resources, support systems, and other structures create, in many situations, inevitability that the children who are disabled will be abused. In order to reduce the prevalence of neglect and abuse of children who are disabled, there must be a concerted effort to work with these families.

Our response to the reality of the victimization of children with disabilities must be direct. Among the responses, we must include:

Assistance to families whose child or children are disabled;

Guaranteeing accessibility at all levels of intervention, treatment, case management, and participation in the criminal justice system;

More effective training of children with disabilities in terms of self-advocacy, self-protection, and the skills of effective communication;

Increased training of those in the field of child advocacy and protection in regard to the unique needs of children with disabilities;

Comprehensive training of those in educational programs which serve children with disabilities re: recognition of behaviors indicating possible abuse, effective interventions, understanding of the laws that mandate reporting, appropriate responses to children who have suffered abuse and neglect.

Finally, beyond individual strategies and programs, we need to develop a deeper vision of how to include fully children with disabilities into the community of this world’s children.

Reverend Joseph A. Mulcrone

October, 2009