THE IMPACT OF NEGLECT AND ABUSE ON CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Flashcards
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
American Society for the Positive Care of Children, 2015
-Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 American children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members. That is nearly four times the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The child maltreatment death rate in the US is triple Canada’s and 11 times that of Italy.
Sheehan Stanford Child Neurology
- Abused babies- about 25% die and up to 50% survive with significant neurological deficits
Neglect
- Is the failure to provide for a child’s basic needs
- It can be emotional, educational, or physical
Children who experience physical neglect
- Often experience this because their parents are unable to provide what they need—they are poor
- May be inappropriately left at home alone
These physically neglected children
- Often have trouble doing well in school- basic needs are not met
- hungry, cold, lice
- Difficulty concentrating
Recent national statistics indicate that in terms of perpetrators by relationship to the victim
78.5% are parents
Children who have experienced severe emotional neglect
- May be lethargic and apathetic
- May demonstrate learned helplessness
- May have cognitive problems, including difficulty with impulse control and problem-solving skills
ABUSE OF THE DISABLED
Reports: physical and sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities runs 3-4 times higher than abuse in the general population
- Disabled girls esp. vulnerable targets; often, family members abuse them
- If disable ch. reports abuse, s/he often not seen as credible- cant describe details
- SLP’s sometimes called to assist in court cases
- SLP’s ensures that interviews are conducted at ch’s appropriate cognitive and linguistic levels.
Some research suggests that…
- Mothers of babies with craniofacial abnormalities such as cleft palat may be less attached to and nurturing of their infants.
- Decreased attachment increases risk of abuse & neglect (AN), babis with craniofacial problems vulnerable to abuse
This is one reason…
- That we need to provide medical care for these babies as early as possible
Children with disabilities
- Put a lot more stress on their caregivers
- When caregivers are stressed and have no respite, they are more likely to neglect and abuse their children
Caregivers of children with disabilities may…
- Not see the light at the end of the tunnel like parents of typically developing ch.
- Be stressed- typical ch. experiences not available
- Parents of typically developing ch. uncomfortable- no invitations
- Special needs parents and ch isolated
BEHAVIORAL AND LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS
- They are often very quiet
- Difficulties with expressive language
- They have lesser conversational skills than their peers
- They may be less likely than peers to discuss information or volunteer
- These children often do more poorly in school
- They underperform academically
- They have more behavior problems
Specific difficulties with pragmatics may include:
- Decrease descriptive utterances
- Language used to get things done with little social affect
- Poor conversational skills overall- shorter conversations
- Inability to discuss feelings
- Lack ability to take perspective of a conversational partner
- Demonstrate alexithymia- absence of words for emotions
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
Mothers who neglect or abuse babies:
- May punish normal risk-taking adventurous behavior
- May not interact
- May be unresponsive when babies initiate, so babies learn to be passive
Shaken baby syndrome may occur
- We must stress to caregivers that they should NEVER shake a baby
- This causes lifetime cognitive and linguistic damage
Sheehan Stanford Neurology
Problem: when caregiver is done shaking, s/he usually slams baby hard against a surface- wall, table -> traumatic brain injury
. 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
In assessment, we especially need to focus on evaluating
- Overall expressive language skills
- Pragmatics skills
- Narrative skills
- Vocabulary
Intervention should involve
- Encouraging verbal expression, esp. description
- Providing a warm, nurturing environment with clear rules and boundaries
- Increase ch’s ability to accurately describe and appropriately express emotions
Ex: use your words, not hitting or kicking
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
- AN ch more likely than peers to engage in behavior that elicits negative reactions from those around them
- ↑ ability to communicate socially
We can work on self esteem by using ideas such as
- Star of the Week(Where you make a poster about a child)
- Me Collage(Track the childs body & write descriptions of child)
- Problem Wall
- Trip to the Future(What do you want in the future)
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)
Many refugee parents
- Great trauma
- Have post- traumatic disorder, may neglect, abuse ch
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
It can be very stressful
- When a baby cries nonstop for hours and you are alone with no help—you can’t leave
Sheehan Stanford Neurology
- They always ask caregivers: when you cant take it anymore, who do you call to relieve you?
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
3. Point out what caregivers are already doing right
4. Provide support groups of other caregivers whose ch have similar challenges
5. Use DVD’s that model good parenting skills.
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.
Sheehan
- Parents who abuse- decrease ability to tolerate infant crying
- Evidence: abused babies don’t actually cry more than other babies
- Parents think they do- unrealistic expectations of baby behavior
