Preventing Abuse and Neglect in the Lives of Children with Disabilities
The abuse and neglect of children with and without disabilities is a choice. Our efforts to stop child abuse and neglect (CAN) and the abuse and neglect of children with disabilities (ANCD) need to take on a new urgency and bring about immediate positive and sustained change. To this end we will discuss the high price of ignorance, the existing barriers to prevention, and how we can engage in our roles as professionals in order to stop CAN and ANCD. This includes concrete and multidisciplinary strategies to prevent ANCD. Aspects of these strategies may be used by family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, social workers, lawyers, medical professionals and all who have unique roles in the care and protection of children with and without disabilities. The ability to use prevention strategies in order to promote healthy outcomes for children is paramount in our efforts to end this horrendous societal ill. We conclude this chapter with a set of recommendations for researchers and practitioners.