THE IMPACT OF NEGLECT AND ABUSE ON CHILDREN

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THE IMPACT OF NEGLECT AND ABUSE ON CHILDRENS
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
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Power Point Outline

• I. Introduction and General Facts
• II. Abuse of Persons with Disabilities
• III. Behavioral and Language Characteristics
• IV. Implications for Assessment and Intervention

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I. INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL BACKGROUND FACTS

• Children may experience abuse and/or neglect (AN)
• The highest rate of child abuse is experienced by
  children between birth and 3 years of age

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Safe Horizon 2019

• In the U.S., someone reports child abuse every 10
  seconds
• 4 children die each day because of abuse and
  neglect

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Not on exam

• Boys (48.5) and girls (51.2) become victims at
  nearly the same rate.
• 2.9 million cases of child abuse are reported
  every year in the United States.

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U.S. Department of Health Services 2020 (not
on exam)

• Of the 3,534,000 million children who were the
  subject of an investigation or alternative
  response in fiscal year 2018, 678,000 children
  were determined to be victims of maltreatment
• 60.8 percent of victims were neglected, 10.7
  percent were physically abused and 7.0 percent
  were sexually abused.

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(not on exam) As a result of Covid 19, in 2020
https//www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05
/13/hospitals-seeing-more-severe-child-abuse-injur
ies-during-coronavirus/3116395001/

• Injuries to children are more severe as domestic
  violence increases
• With children inside their homes, they have less
  exposure to mandated reporters like teachers

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Sheehan Stanford Child Neurology
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Neglect
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Children who experience physical neglect

• Often experience this because their parents are
  unable to provide what they needthey are poor
• May be inappropriately left at home alone

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These physically neglected children

• Often have trouble doing well in school-- basic
  needs are not met
• Hungry, cold, lice
• Difficulty concentrating

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Recent national statistics indicate that in terms
of perpetrators by relationship to the victim

• 78.5 are parents
• 6.5 are other relatives (total of 85 are
  relatives)
• 0.4 are foster parents
• 0.7 are child daycare providers
• 4.1 are unmarried partners of the childs parent
• 0.3 are friends or neighbors

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Children who have experienced severe emotional
neglect
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II. ABUSE OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
(http//www.irvingstudies.com/child_abuse_survivor
_monument/Disabled.htm)

• Reports physical and sexual abuse of individuals
  with disabilities runs 3-4 times higher than
  abuse in the general population
• Girls with disabilities are especially vulnerable
  targets often, family members abuse them

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Some research suggests that
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This is one reason

• That we need to provide medical care for these
  babies as early as possible

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Children with disabilities
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Caregivers may

• Not see the light at end of tunnel like parents
  of TD children
• Be stressed--typical childhood experiences not
  available
• Parents of TD children uncomfortable-- no
  invitations
• Special needs parents children isolated

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III. BEHAVIORAL AND LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS
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• These children often do more poorly in school
• They underperform academically
• They have more behavior problems

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Specific difficulties with pragmatics may include
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Other specific language issues may include

• Shorter, less complex utterances
• Fewer decontextualized utterances more talk
  about the here and now
• Auditory and reading comprehension problems

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Mothers who neglect or abuse babies
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Shaken baby syndrome may occur

• We must stress to caregivers that they should
  NEVER shake a baby
• This causes lifetime cognitive and linguistic
  damage

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Sheehan Stanford Neurology
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IV. IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION

• We need to work as part of a multidisciplinary
  team
• This team often includes a social worker and a
  psychologist
• We are mandated to document and report what we
  see and hear
• In the schools, we would tell the principal

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In assessment, we especially need to focus on
evaluating

• Overall expressive language skills
• Pragmatics skills
• Narrative skills
• Vocabulary

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Intervention should involve

• Encouraging verbal expression, especially
  description
• Providing a warm, nurturing environment with
  clear rules and boundaries
• ? childs ability to accurately describe and
  appropriately express emotions (e.g., use your
  words, not hitting or kicking)

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What we can do
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Intervention may especially need to involve

• Playing!
• We can provide appropriate dolls/action figures,
  art supplies, etc.
• As the child is playing or drawing, describe his
  actions or drawings

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• AN children are more likely than peers to engage
  in behavior that elicits negative reactions from
  those around them
• ? ability to communicate socially

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We can work on self esteem by using ideas such
as

• Star of the Week
• Me Collage
• Problem Wall
• Trip to the Future

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Remember that

• Culturally and linguistically diverse families
  may especially need direct instruction about
  American child abuse laws
• I think that we should do this before we refer
  the family to CPS (Child Protective Services)

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Many refugee parents
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V. SUPPORTING CAREGIVERS

• Remember that in the U.S., most people do not
  have help and support from extended families like
  they do in other countries
• Frequently caregivers are isolated with their
  children, and they can become extremely stressed

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Lorber, M.F., Egeland, B. Parenting and Infant
Difficulty. Child Development, 82, (6)
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It can be very stressful

• When a baby cries nonstop for hours and you are
  alone with no helpyou cant leave

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Sheehan Stanford Neurology

• They always ask caregivers
• When you just cant take it any more, who can you
  call to relieve you?

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• 1. Ask caregivers about their own needs, and
  attempt to help them meet these needs or guide to
  them to professionals who can help them (e.g.,
  parenting classes, food stamp programs)
• 2. Provide key information about overall child
  development. Research shows that some caregivers
  abuse their children because the caregivers
  expectations are too high.

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• One friend told me about her great grandsonat 3
  years of age, expected to change his own
  diaperswas hit when he did not
• In winter, allowed to go barefoot and get
  splintersno coat

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Sheehan
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• 6. Teach caregivers how to use language/words
  to discipline instead of using physical means
  such as slapping. For example, caregivers can be
  taught how to apply choices and consequences.
• 7. Model language stimulation strategies such as
  extensions that caregivers can easily fit into
  their daily routines.

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Power Point Outline

• I. Introduction and General Facts
• II. Abuse of Children with Disabilities
• III. Behavioral and Language Characteristics
• IV. Implications for Assessment and Intervention