Prevalence of Disabilities and Abilities in Children Investigated for Abuse and Neglect

A population-based examination of maltreatment referrals and substantiation for children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Finally, it is also possible that those charged with triage and decision making from the TN Child Abuse Hotline make attributions about allegations or resource referrals differentially for children with ASD. Given existing research suggesting that child protection workers generally receive little training on recognizing and supporting children with disabilities (Fisher et al, 2008;Helton & Bruhn, 2013;Lightfoot & LaLiberte, 2006;Shannon & Tappan, 2011), it may be that child protection workers could benefit from more specialized training in autism and other developmental disabilities. For example, the TNDCS staff in-service course catalog includes a one-hour, online course entitled "Autism Awareness," that appears to be one of over 100 elective in-service options (Staff In-Service Catalog, n.d.) Given that recommendations for further action were substantially lower for children with ASD, it is challenging to ultimately interpret the fairly comparable percentages of substantiated cases of maltreatment for those children with and without ASD.…”

“…2005; Sullivan & Knutson, 2000;Hall-Lande, Hewitt, Mishra, Piescher, & LaLiberte, 2015); however, specific disability status is not often adequately addressed and documented in the research or by child protection systems (Kendall-Tackett, Lyon, Taliaferro, & Little, 2005;Shannon & Agorastou, 2006). Children from different disability categories often vary substantially in their unique neurodevelopmental profiles and support needs (Helton & Bruhn, 2013). In order to develop systems of care that include maltreatment prevention, response, assessment, and intervention strategies, it is extremely important for states to know the proportion of children who interact with their child protection systems who have specific forms of disabilities (Helton & Bruhn, 2013;Kendall-Tackett et al, 2005;Lightfoot, Hill, & LaLiberte, 2011).…”

“…Children from different disability categories often vary substantially in their unique neurodevelopmental profiles and support needs (Helton & Bruhn, 2013). In order to develop systems of care that include maltreatment prevention, response, assessment, and intervention strategies, it is extremely important for states to know the proportion of children who interact with their child protection systems who have specific forms of disabilities (Helton & Bruhn, 2013;Kendall-Tackett et al, 2005;Lightfoot, Hill, & LaLiberte, 2011).…”

“…First, (a) there are few standardized definitions or criteria used by child protection workers across states for assessing or reporting disability status, (b) disability status is often only documented as a dichotomous variable (e.g., disability present or not present) (Helton & Bruhn, 2013;Shannon & Agorastou, 2006), and (c) child protection workers receive little training in identifying and supporting children with disabilities and their families (Lightfoot & LaLiberte, 2006;Lightfoot et al, 2011;Shannon & Agorastou, 2006). Second, previous research has (a) failed to adequately separate ASD from other disability categories; (b) dramatically under-identified individuals with ASD relative to the known prevalence of the disorder; or (c) examined of rates of maltreatment in clinically-referred samples and/or samples of convenience rather than population studies (Fisher et al, 2008).…”

A Systematic Literature Review of the Teaching Considerations and Practices Provided to Children in an Education Setting with Comorbid Disability and Developmental Trauma

“…Children with experiences of developmental trauma are likely to experience poor outcomes across the lifespan [ 4 ]. Equally, the risk of exposure to maltreatment is significantly increased when the child has a condition that impacts on their daily functioning.…”