For children with special education needs, the usual risk factors for child abuse such as dependence, vulnerability and family stress are intensified. In fact, a study from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) found that children with special needs are maltreated at 1.7 times the rate of other children and indicate that underreporting is a major concern due to communication issues and negative myths about disabilities.
Parents of children with disabilities come from every social class and value system, however, these parents may feel very much on their own may be stressed by ongoing health care needs, difficulties in finding suitable child care, financial burdens and social isolation, along with related difficulties such as depression and marital discord. Several research studies indicate that caregivers of children with special needs who perceive themselves as severely stressed are more likely to commit abuse. Unfortunately, many families lack of the necessary social supports or networks to work through the many concerns and situations that arise in providing care for their children and the rest of the family.
The above information is taken from http://kcsos.kern.org/SpecialEd/stories/storyReader$428
Check out the websites on the blog under Child Abuse Resources. Share something important that you learned from this information.
REPORTING SUSPECTED ABUSE
Remember, it is against the law to hurt a child. You must report it when you suspect a child is being abused. After you report abuse, wait a week and then call again to see what has been done. Watch for new signs of abuse and report each one. Each time you call, write down the time, date, and who you talked to. Write down the child's name and what evidence you have that the child is being abused.
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ReplyDeleteI took a look at the Q and A Child Abuse which describes abuse of children with cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities. I found it interesting that children with disabilities are more likely to be abused than children without a disability. I never looked at disability being a link to abuse until I read Ghost Girl and did more research about abuse.
ReplyDeleteTaken from the article, "One in three children with an identified disability for which they receive special education services are victims of some type of maltreatment (i.e., either neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse) whereas one in 10 nondisabled children experience abuse."
WOW! That is an eye opener for me. I am more aware that there is a connection linked to special needs children and abuse. When I worked as a peer tutor for a special education class in high school, abuse happening to these students never came to mind. It now makes me wonder how many of those disabled students were actually being abused. It also makes me wonder if their teacher would even think that abuse was occurring. This reminds me of Jadie from Ghost Girl. One of the first clues that indicated some form of child abuse being present in Jadie’s life was her disability.
"One study found that children with developmental disabilities were at twice the risk of physical and sexual abuse compared to children without disabilities.
How difficult would it be as a teacher to tell if their special needs student was being abused or if they were just disabled because of other reasons besides abuse? How do you save that child from abuse occurring outside the classroom if the disability is the result of abuse? That is my concern.
From the article, "Children with disabilities face greater risk of abuse going unnoticed if their behavior change can be attributed to their disability instead of the abuse. Also, children with developmental disabilities may be viewed as easily suggestible or untrustworthy, especially when the report involves abuse that seems improbable"
No wonder many cases of abuse go unnoticed and teachers hesitate to report it until there is concrete evidence that their disability is linked to abuse.
As a teacher, it is important to monitor student's behaviors and be aware of their safety. If abuse is suspected, do not hesitate to report it. As a future teacher, it is our responsibility to make sure our students are safe. If there are marks on a student’s body that seem unusual, do not ignore it. Report it.
No matter if a teacher is working with disabled students or regular students, they should always be aware of abuse happening…It is not just disabled students that get abused but regular students as well.
I looked at the Preventing Child Abuse and read about Partnering With Parents. And it was interesting to me because it's something I deal with in my own life. My mother heads up a program that deals with families who are about to have their children put in foster care. It's an intense program where they come to the organization for 5 hours a day, for a week, where they're taught how to treat their children, how to set up family rules, etc. And after the week their situation is assessed by the courts.
ReplyDeleteI liked how there were lists of different programs from all over that are available to anyone. These types of classes don't have to be court ordered. I'm glad that if they take these classes they will be more likely to let a service worker into their home or situation, lessening the risk of further abuse.
I also read the Child Abuse Q&A and found it very disturbing that "One study found that children with developmental disabilities were at twice the risk of physical and sexual abuse compared to children without disabilities (Crosse et. al., 1993)." To me this says that they're at a greater risk because they can't fight back as easily because of their disability. This just saddens me to no avail. I'm very lucky that I have a social worker/therapist for a mother so that I can go to her with my questions if anything should arise in my classroom.
The first thing I looked at was the Questions and Answers about child abuse. I thought this was interesting because I never really thought about the fact that children with disabilities were more likely to be abused. These children may not realize that they are being abused and are therefore less likely to report any wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteThe next article I looked at was 'Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect'. This article mentions the Child Welfare Information Gateway, which is a hotline that people can call if they suspect abuse. It also talks about Childhelp, which also offers help to those who need it. I have never heard of either of these organizations, but they are good to know about.
The link titled 'Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect' led me to a bunch of information regarding prevention programs, public awareness, and an overview of what child abuse and neglect are. I thought this link was very informative and had a lot of useful information.
Overall, all of these links gave much needed and important information to anyone who would want to know about child abuse and neglect.
Looking through these websites I tried to relate them to Ghost Girl. In the child abuse and neglect resource I found that effects on children with sexual abuse can be fear, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor self-esteem, substance abuse, and difficulty with close relationships. These are very similar to how Jadie acted. Her mood was always different and it surprised everyone for you never really knew how she would act. For example when Torey caught Jadie trying to be inappropriate with a puppy. This is something a child should not be doing.
ReplyDeleteWhen recognizing signs of abuse we should keep in mind that when a child is watchful as if waiting for something bad to happen this may be cause for concern. According to the child welfare information site it also states that when a child's behavior in school changes suddenly this also may be something to watch for. When a child comes to school with bruises or obvious signs that they have been hurt and the parents do nothing about it we should note that there may be something happening.
I also noticed that when the parent blames the child for all their mistakes and problems at school this is considered abuse. I found this interesting because my brother had difficulty in school. Someone in my family began to blame him for his problems at school and also for problems at home. When blaming my brother didn't seem to work, I began to be the target. Since I didn't want to get involved with any arguments I stayed out of it and then began to be blamed. They said if I didn't help then I was part of the problem. I found this ridiculous and argued back for I knew I did nothing wrong to deserve that. My mother became interference and helped to stop the madness.
I never really thought that the way parents can talk to children would be cause for concern. I didn't think that would ever effect a child in the way that it sometimes does. After reading some of these resources I realized that children can be very hurt by many of the things you say. Children need to know that parents love them no matter what and they don't find them guilty for certain things that happen. It is not a child's fault for what may go wrong. Parents need to be their child's guidance and support, without that a child can have serious problems and lack of enthusiasm to do well in school.
I thought it was really good that all these websites, not only talked about child abuse but also how to help parents deal with abuse and how to strengthen families. There are resources that will help strengthen marriages, help fathers deal with children, support groups, and even enhancing protective factors.
ReplyDeleteI learned that about one-third of all individuals who were abused or neglected as children will subject their children to maltreatment. This will happen with individuals who were abused or just witnessed this violence; they believe that is the correct way to treat children and then the cycle goes on and on. Most of the people who are doing the abusing are people that are close to the children; such as their parents, relatives, babysitters, or foster parents.
I was shocked when I read that in 2007, approximately 794,000 children were found to be victims of child abuse or neglect. I think that as we become teachers, we really need to watch for the signs and symptoms because mostly likely we will be the ones to report the abuse. If the child’s loved ones are the abuser or abusers, then they are not going to repeat it, we will!
I learned that if anyone ever has a question of what is abuse or how to report it, just go online and there are plenty of resources. I found all the question and answers very helpful because if you want to learn about that specific question, just click on it. I thought it was very good that if you do suspect something, you are able to report it and still remain anonymous. It is also good that everything is confidential, so there should not be any worries that someone will find out that you reported them and get mad at you. I just remember that we are saving a child’s life and helping them get in a better situation.
This last paper was a tough paper to write, mentally! I visited some of the websites about child abuse and the numbers and cases of child abuse was overwhelming. Child abuse is something I have always heard of over the news, it has never happened around or near me. So it is extremly important to me to educate myself about this as much as possible. I did not know that children with disablities were at a higher risk for sexual abuse. I wasn't surprised with this statistic. Children in general are very suseptable to abuse, but I could see children with disabilities being more vulnerable. To a sexual predator, they may look like a easier target. A predator might think they can get away with it easier. I think people who commit child abuse don't do it because they are bored, I think there must be something wrong with them to commit such a crime. I wonder if there is a study done on the brains who have committed these types of crimes?
ReplyDeleteI defenitly think getting the community involved with kid friendly functions is a great way to help out with minimizing child abuse. Also getting families and parents involved as much as possible in school activities can help. Just knowing your surroundings and the people in it and educating the people as well can help prevent it, that way everybody is well informed and everybody can work together in wiping it out.
While investigating the Child Abuse Resources, I discovered that according to Indiana State Law: a child is in need of services if before the age of 18, he “lives in the same household as another child who was the victim” of sexual abuse, or “lives in the same household as the adult who was convicted of a sex offense as defined in the criminal statutes pertaining to rape, criminal deviant conduct, etc.” I always wondered how that worked because I often check the website to see if any sex offenders live/work in my area. Then I think, hmmmm, I wonder if they have any kids or grandkids of their own.
ReplyDeleteThe link to Q & A about Child Abuse reminds me of my best friend’s daughter. She is 11 and has Asperger’s. She suffers from poor social skills and isn’t always treated well by her peers which makes my friend wonder how other adults treat her when she isn’t around. My friend has worked with her daughter to help her understand abuse in its many forms and to know when to tell her if there is a problem. My friend has even considered putting her daughter on birth control knowing that children with special needs are often targets of abuse. She is afraid that with her daughter’s poor social skills she could be an easy target of sexual abuse. The birth control wouldn’t prevent the abuse from happening; but, it could prevent a pregnancy should a horrible thing happen to her daughter. It is difficult enough for a parent to watch their child struggle with special needs; but, the silent struggles the parent has to endure because of abusers is in a league of its own.
According to the website, Child Welfare Information Gateway, a perpetrator is someone “who has been determined to have caused or knowingly allowed the maltreatment of a child.” This website says that most states define a perpetrator of child abuse and neglect as parents or caretakers of the child. A caretaker can be a relative, foster parent or babysitter.) It is shocking that in 2007, 80% of the perpetrators of child abuse are parents. According to the website, about 56% of the perpetrators during 2007 were women, and more than 40% of those women were under the age of thirty. Men perpetrators, on the other hand, are typically older, with an average age of 33. The numbers for the ethnicity of the perpetrators have remained somewhat the same for the past couple years. Almost one half were White, one fifth were African American, and one fifth were Hispanic.
ReplyDeleteI find it devastating that most of the people committing child abuse are parents. I think of how my parents were- loving and caring, and think all parents should be that way. But, on the other hand, I can see how parents would have the opportunity to abuse their children since they can act behind the doors of their home, out of the public eye, and parents or caretakers are the people who spend the most time with the children. I thought it was interesting that most of the perpetrators are women. If I had to guess which gender abused children more often, I would have guessed males.
After reading these child abuse perpetrators statistics, I realized that it isn’t safe to assume anything, and what I assumed was incorrect. I do not think it is fair to make judgments until you know the facts. I feel that these websites and articles are a valuable resource for me because they help me gain a better understanding of the topic of child abuse.
The first site that I went too was child abuse and neglect. From there I read over all of the links but the one that really hit me the most was the impact child abuse has on the child. It is important to figure out if a child is being abused right away for this reason. It causes a lot of problems for the child in the long run and the sooner you find out about the abuse the better it is on the child.
ReplyDeleteChild neglect causes intellectual, physical, social, and psychological development. It also affects early brain development and can have enduring repercussions into adulthood. It also low self-esteem, attention disorders, and violent behavior.
The people who usually abuse children are parents, relatives, babysitters, and foster parents. I have two friends, who are actually twins, that were abused by their father when they were younger. Sexually and physically abused. The thing that made me mad the most is that the mother knew about and is still with the father. I honestly don't like going to their house because I can't stand to look at the father without wondering exactly what he did to them (I've never fully asked them).
All in all, I think that child abuse is unreal. I can't believe someone would have a child and then abuse them. It doesn't make any sense to me. Please, if you think a child in your classroom is being abused, get help as soon as possible.
The first article that I read was the questions and answers about child abuse. I found it very sad that children with disabilities are more likely to experience abuse. Children and/or adults being abused may not know what abuse is or what acts are considered abusive. I was glad to read that there are ways to get children and/or adults with speech disabilities to report abuse. Pictures demonstrating acts of abuse are very helpful in helping determine if someone with disabilities is being abused.
ReplyDeleteAll of the different types of abuse (physical, sexual, neglect, and emotional) cause major long-term effects on children. Children can suffer from brain damage and permanent disabilities. Abuse can also negatively affect every other aspect of childrens' lives. It can affect them socially, physically, emotionally, and cognitively. These are the reasons that we must make sure that all our students are safe. Abuse has so many negative effects on children and if I ever suspect anyone of abuse, I'd be sure to do what was needed to ensure that child's safety.
I really learned a lot from this website. I never really thought about children with disabilities having more of a chance of getting abused. I guess it makes sense because when a child has a disability and a person who does not understand how to handle them they can get very frusterated. To me child abuse is so wrong anyway because children are so innocent, but then to abuse a child who has a disability, wow! Children with out disabilities may understand what is going on when they are being abused and a child with a disability may not understand what is going on so it makes them easy targets, especially if the child does not know how to communicate their problem. I read about what you do if you supect a person with difficulties communicating is being abused. You can try and act it out with them, that way you know and can report it. I also can not believe how many children with disabilities are neglected. A child that needs even more care is given way less because the parents can not handle it. I really think there should be free training for parents with disabled children so they know how to better handle them.
ReplyDeleteWow! While looking through this website I really learned alot and I ran into some very helpful information for all of us who plan on becoming teachers. This website encourages us as teachers and early childhood educators to consider the SELPA office a resource to acquire knowledge and gain skills necessary to improve outcomes for children with special needs. They are eager to accommodate our district's needs and look forward to continuing their working relationship. They even have an area where we can contact them and they can help us with any questions or concerns we have.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be very helpful and they seem very knowledgeable. They even have special education software designed to improve the process, reducing time spent with necessary paperwork. They have an easy to access Educator's Reference Desk, Many Sites for Teachers, and so much more.
Thanks Prof. Pratt I will defiantly be remembering this website for future references.
Okay I am adding another blog because the last one I commented on the website and not on the child abuse resources..
ReplyDeleteSo I picked defining child abuse and neglect. I was very surprised to see that there are so many different definitions of child abuse, there is a Federal law definition, State definitions, even state definitions of child abuse vs. neglect. This is a helpful website because it talks about the different types of abuse for example neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and mental. Giving not only the definition but helpful links for the selected topic you pick. And did you know that "within the minimum standards set by CAPTA, each State is responsible for providing its own definitions of child abuse and neglect. Most States recognize four major types of maltreatment: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. You can locate definitions for your State by conducting a State Statutes Search on the Information Gateway website." I got this from the website of State definitions of child abuse and neglect. I think this is a great website for us all to remember incase we are ever in a classroom or anywhere and suspect child abuse, we can look up the definitions of abuse and then if what we suspect fits the description we should contact child services so they can further investigate. This is very helpful for these are our federal and state definitions of abuse and neglect.
The first thing I looked at was the Q & A, and I learned lots of interesting things. One thing I learned is that one in three children with a disability, that requires special education, experience some maltreatment compared to the one in ten nondisabled children who experience some maltreatment. Both numbers are astonishing to me, but I never thought about the connection between abuse and disable children. From what I read in the article, children with disabilities are more likely to be abused because people are less likely to report the abuse for many reasons, and the children are may not report it because they may not understand what abuse is or their disability may make it hard to verbalize the abuse.
ReplyDeleteI also looked through the other websites and was happy to see that the websites all provided information on how to help children being abused or how to help the parents. All of this information was very interesting to me, but I was especially interested in the Q & A. Based on what was being said in the article, I think it would be more difficult for a teacher to recognize abuse in a child with a disability as opposed to a nondisabled child. However, it was helpful to read all of the other information because the more you know about the topic, the easier it will be to recognize signs of abuse.
I think it is terrible that children with disabilities are more likely to be abused than children without any disabilities. One would think that a disabled child would receive more attention and care, but I guess that is not always the case. I guess it makes sense if parents can not handle the extra stress of having a child with a disability, but it is still very sad. I learned that it is important for teachers to know about child abuse because children might not know that they are even being abused because of their mentality. Teachers have to be aware of the signs of abuse, take notes, and report anything that seems unjust. Teachers have to be supportive of their students and be aware of their lives inside and outside of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the Q & A abuse article and the statistics involving developmentally, physically and mentally challenged children. I have a friend who's daughter has autism combined with severe mental disabilities. Mackenzie is a beautiful young lady. Her disability is unnoticeable by simply looking at her. Her mental disabilities become evident after interaction with her. She is fortunate to have parents who are aware of the possibilty of harm to her. She is very loving and trusting. It would be extremely easy for someone to take advantage of her disabilities and harm her.
ReplyDeleteI was horrified to learn from the Child Welfare Info Gateway, that in 2007, 80% of child abuse perpetrators were parents and that 56% were women. As a mother, that shocks me to the core. They talk about motherly instincts. Where do motherly instincts factor into these statistic. I am also disappointed in myself to learn that I am somewhat sterotypical. I had always assumed that most child abuse occured at someone other than the hands of a parent and more typically with males. As a mother, I find it unfathomable that someone responsible for giving a child life could harm a hair on their head. I was raised in a loving, caring, Christian home and that somewhat makes my vision impaired when it comes to the topic of child abuse.
I have experienced some evidence of child abuse and suspected child abuse in a classroom environment and I am sure, unfortunately, that a situation may arise again. I think it is even more necessary for me to continue to educate myself in regards to child abuse prevention, statistics and reporting. I consider it my job to ensure that each of my students are protected both inside and outside of my classroom.
Looking through the articles and websites the one segment that I was completely unaware of and stuck out the most was that the Crime Victims with Disabilities Awareness Act of 1998 mandated the inclusion of disability status in the U.S. National Crime Victim Survey. This was shocking to me because I would have never have thought of individuals with disabilities as not being included! Eleven years ago individuals with disabilities were not included in the statistics of abuse. Why? Is it because of the credibility of the individual with the disability?
ReplyDeleteAnother article stated that the characteristics of identifying abuse for an individual with a disability are similar to those of the characteristics of those who do not have a disability. It absolutely amazes me that it never occurred to anyone to include these people in their statistics. As advanced of a country that we are, we have so much further to go as far as the acceptance of the diversity of those who live here.
Individuals with various disabilities seem to be more often targeted because of several different factors including their ability to communicate, credibility, their own physical and mental capacity and the comprehension of what is right and wrong in some cases.
The Child Welfare site provided a lot of good information and helpful sites. I also found it interesting that there are state mandates in reporting child abuse. Some states require people of certain professions to report abuse and other states specify that it is the entire population’s responsibility to report suspected abuse. I had wondered before if legal charges could be brought against someone if they knowingly did not report an abuse, this is the case in most states.
Child abuse is around us regardless of economic status, race, sexual orientation, religion, gender, etc… as adults, as well as teachers, we need to be aware of our responsibilities and our moral obligations.
I checked out the americanhumane.org site that was listed on the Impact of Emotional Abuse page of childwelfare.gov. It defines emotional abuse as “a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a child’s cognitive, emotional, psychological, or social development.” This site points out the different symptoms that can come out from a child who is emotionally abused, and the different ways that a child can be emotionally abused. Some examples of emotional abuse is ignoring, rejecting, isolating, corrupting, verbally assaulting, terrorizing, or neglecting. It is sad to say that these kinds of things really happen. Some different things that children may display could be insecurity, poor self-esteem, destructive behavior, angry acts, withdrawal, poor development of basic skills, alcohol or drug abuse, suicide, difficulty forming relationships and unstable job histories. If a student showed these actions, and informed me of the different things occurring, I would automatically feel anger towards the parent, and feel that they were being completely selfish and low. The page goes on to say though that some parents make these actions because of things like stress, social isolation, or poor parenting skills. If these were the reasons and depending on the severity of the actions being made, I think that the best first move would be to go calmly to the parent, and try to point out what their child was displaying at school. Hopefully that would open their eyes to what their actions are causing to their students. There can be much worse cases though that cannot be approached so gently, or one that the parents may not take as well.
ReplyDeleteEmotional abuse has been said to be the hardest form of abuse to identify and treat. Protective services are not able to do anything about emotional abuse until there is verifiable evidence that harm had been done. The website says that there are Professionals that are taught to identify risk factures for emotional abuse, ask appropriate questions about the facts from the family’s past and present behaviors, and have appropriate resources. It doesn’t say who that Professional would be though. Does anyone know if there would be a professional in the education field that could help? Would an advisor be able to cover any of these things?
I read the article, Abuse of Children with Cognitive, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. The fact that stuck out the most to me was that 1 out of every 3 children with a diability is being abused compared to 1 in every 10 that does not have a disability. First off, I cannot believe that that many children are being abused in some sort of way in the first place. I think to myself, if you cannot love a child completely without harm why are you having children in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt says in the article that chidren with disabilities are being abused more than children without because of their lack of being able to communicate they are being abused and the fact it is harder to detect abuse in a child that has diabilities. Poeople often asume that they are acting out due to their disability.
As a future teacher if you have students with disabilities, just like your students without, you must really get to know their behaviors and figure out their norms. If a child with a disabilty seems to be acting different than they normally do you must investigate to see what the problem is. It is our duty to protect all of our students and not just make assumptions about their behaviors.
I read the question and answer article first, and I found it very suprising that just recently pictures of demonstration acts of abuse and sexual anatomy have been added to communication boards to help non-communicative children and adults report acts of abuse. I can't believe it took this long for them to start the awareness. They have known they are non-communicative so why wouldnt they put these awareness tools up early. It could have helped stop the abuse of many people.
ReplyDeleteAlso in this article, I found it very suprising that children with developmental disabilities were at twice the risk of physical and sexual abuse compared to children without disabilities. I realized that it was larger, but not twice the amount. I thought it would be around 1/4. But obvioulsy, the abuse is more than people think and understand.
Also, I read the Child Abuse and Neglect article. I was looking through the topics, and I read the characteristics of a perpetrator. I was about to click and thought what I thought it was going to say. I thought it was going to give this description of a person who is dressed all creepy and walks around stalking kids and just end up in creepy situations. But, it wasnt that at all. It says that many states define it as parents and other caretakers. So, it can be anyone from a babysitter to a relative. I never really thought of this. Maybe because I have grown up in a small touwn and never really experienced or heard of this kind of stuff. It was the last thing to ever come into my mine.
I found these articles very informative and useful. Once a teacher and even as a person, you have a responsibility to protect someone who doesnt deserve to be abused. And, these websites gave me great knowledge on how to do this.