The focus of this paper is children with disabilities exposed to a broad range of violence types including child maltreatment, domestic violence, community violence, and war and terrorism. Because disability research must be interpreted on the basis of the definitional paradigm employed, definitions of disability status and current prevalence estimates as a function of a given paradigm are initially considered. These disability paradigms include those used in federal, education, juvenile justice, and health care arenas. Current prevalence estimates of childhood disability in the U.S. are presented within the frameworks of these varying definitions of disability status in childhood. Summaries of research from 2000 to 2008 on the four types of violence victimization addressed among children with disabilities are presented and directions for future research suggested.

OBJECTIVE:To assess the disciplinary preferences of mothers of profoundly deaf children and normally hearing children in a test of the hypothesized link between child disabilities and punitive parenting.METHOD:Disciplinary preferences of mothers seeking a cochlear implant for their profoundly deaf child (n=57), mothers not seeking an implant for their deaf child (n=22), and mothers of normally hearing children (n=27) were assessed using an analog task in which subjects select discipline in response to slide images of children engaging in normative or frankly deviant behaviors that are potentially irritating.RESULTS:Results indicated that mothers of children with profound hearing impairments were more likely to select physical discipline in response to depicted child transgressions and more likely to escalate to physical discipline when the depicted child was described as persisting in the transgression. Additionally, escalation was more probable in response to scenes depicting children engaged in dangerous and destructive acts than in rule-violating acts.CONCLUSIONS:Findings were consistent with the hypothesized link between childhood disabilities and child maltreatment as well as the hypothesis that children with disabilities associated with communication problems could be at risk of physical abuse.

OBJECTIVE:This research was conducted to determine the prevalence of disabilities among abused and nonabused runaways within a hospital population (Study 1) and community school population (Study 2) and to identify any associations between disability, maltreatment, family stress factors, academic achievement, school attendance, domestic violence and runaway status.METHOD:Descriptive information was collected for maltreated and nonmaltreated runaways from hospital (N = 39,352; 255 runaways) and school (N = 40,211; 562 runaways) populations including: disability status, type of maltreatment, family stress factors, record of domestic violence in the family, academic achievement and attendance.RESULTS:The prevalence rate of disabilities among the maltreated runaways was 83.1% and 47% among the nonmaltreated runaways in the hospital sample and 34% and 17%, respectively, in the school sample. Children and youth with disabilities were at increased risk to become runaways in both populations. The presence of maltreatment significantly increased the association between running away and disability status. Children with behavior disorders, mental retardation, and some type of communication disorder were significantly more likely to run away than children with other disabilities. Among the maltreated runaways with and without disabilities, physical abuse and sexual abuse were significantly associated with running away. Records of domestic violence were more prevalent in the families of runaways with behavior disorders and no diagnosed disability. Lower academic achievement, poor school attendance, and more family stress factors were associated with maltreatment, disability and runaway status.CONCLUSIONS:Children and youth with disabilities are unidentified and unrecognized among runaways. Professionals working with runaways and their families need to be cognizant of the special needs of the population, particularly with respect to behavior disorders, communication disabilities, and mental retardation and reconsider current policy to routinely reunite runaways with their families when running away was precipitated by traumatagenic factors within the family.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of abuse and neglect among a population of children identified as a function of an existing disability, relate specific types of disabilities to specific types of abuse, and to determine the effect of abuse and neglect on academic achievement and attendance rates for children with and without disabilities. Method: An electronic merger of school records with Central Registry, Foster Care Review Board, and police databases was followed by a detailed record review of the circumstances of maltreatment. Results: Analyses of the circumstances of maltreatment and the presence of disabilities established a 9% prevalence rate of maltreatment for nondisabled children and a 31% prevalence rate for the disabled children. Thus, the study established a significant association between the presence of an educationally relevant disability and maltreatment. Conclusions: Children with disabilities are 3.4 times more likely to be maltreated than nondisabled peers. School professionals need to be cognizant of the high base rate of maltreatment among the children they serve. Disability status needs to be considered in national incidence studies of maltreatment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.

OBJECTIVE:Circumstances of maltreatment and the presence of disabilities.METHOD:An electronic merger of the records of all pediatric patients.RESULTS:Detailed record analysis of circumstances of maltreatment and the presence of disabilities.CONCLUSIONS:Differences between the Hospital and Residential samples, maltreatment and perpetrator characteristics, disability/maltreatment relationships, and their implications for primary health care are discussed.

This paper summarizes the available literature on child abuse and neglect among children with disabilities in general and considers children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing within this larger rubric given the low prevalence rates of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing among the disabled population. This procedure allows for comparisons between disabilities as well as abused and non-abused children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Maltreatment data on children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing in a large epidemiological study of the prevalence of child maltreatment among children with disabilities are summarized. Children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing comprised 6.1% of the disabled population who were identified as victims of maltreatment. Their most prevalent form of maltreatment was neglect, followed by physical abuse and sexual abuse. Although children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing are significantly more likely to be maltreated by immediate family members, placement in a residential school is a risk factor for sexual and physical abuse. Maltreated children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing exhibit significantly more behavior problems including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder related behaviors than nonmaltreated peers.

OBJECTIVE:To describe the psychological status of deaf children with hearing parents who were seeking a cochlear implant and to compare them with deaf children with hearing parents who were not seeking a cochlear implant.DESIGN:A sample of children consecutively referred for a cochlear implant at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was contrasted on a number of standardized psychological measures with a cohort of children from Boys Town National Research Hospital, who had hearing impairments and whose families had not sought a cochlear implant.RESULTS:Although the comparison group evidenced more externalizing and social problems than the implant group, the means of both groups fell well within the normal range. Similarly, although mothers of the implant group rated their child's home as characterized by more positive and supportive interactions than did mothers of the children in the comparison group, both group means were well within the average range. On measures of intelligence, the two groups also did not differ.CONCLUSION:Overall, the study indicated that children with hearing impairments and their families who were seeking cochlear implants are not significantly different from children with hearing impairments whose parents were not seeking a cochlear implant. The results provided no support for the notion that children with hearing impairments from families seeking a cochlear implants for their child evidence more behavioral deviance than children with hearing impairments whose parents have not sought an implant.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; D. Wechsler, 1991) was factor analyzed on a sample of 106 deaf and hard-of-hearing children, ages 6 to 16 years. Two factors emerged and were labeled language Comprehension (1) and Visual-Spatial Organization (v-s). There were no differences in Verbal, Performance, or Full Scale IQs between children attending mainstreamed vs. residential schools; children who were administered the test through an interpreter or by an examiner who used sign language or the oral-only directions; children whose communication mode was oral, American Sign Language (ASL), or signed English (SE); boys and girls; or children with moderate-to-severe or profound hearing impairments. Children with known etiologies of hearing loss (i.e., meningitis, perinatal complications, rubella, cytomegaloviral inclusion, or genetic anomalies) earned significantly lower Performance IQs and Object Assembly scores than children with unknown etiologies. Implications and future directions for the intellectual assessment of deaf and hard-of-hearing children are discussed.

One goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to enhance access to career opportunities for individuals with hearing loss. Hearing-impaired professionals are woefully underrepresented among the cadre of scientists currently involved in hearing and deafness research. Information was obtained by questionnaire from 190 consecutive attendees (13 through 17 years of age) at a summer program for gifted hearing-impaired adolescents regarding career goals, attitudes toward academic and extracurricular activities, educational placement, primary communication modality, and parental hearing status. A follow-up questionnaire completed by 80 of these youth, presently attending college, provided comparison data regarding type of college attended and academic major. Males were significantly more likely to select majors in mathematics and science-related disciplines. The percentage of college attendees majoring in the sciences was much lower than the percentage of high school students who aspired to a scientific career. Strategies for attracting qualified hearing-impaired students into science majors should include educational efforts directed at students, parents, and academic advisors.

Department of Psychology The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa Boys Town National Research Hospital Omaha, Nebraska

No abstract available for this article.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Revised was factor analyzed on a sample of 368 hard-of-hearing and deaf children, ages 6 to 16 years. Two factors emerged and were labeled Language Comprehension (1) and Visual-Spatial Organization (v-s). The factor structure for the hard-of-hearing (n = 77) and deaf (n = 291) groups was identical. Deaf children of deaf parents earned significantly higher Verbal IQ and Performance IQ scores than did deaf children of hearing parents. There were no differences in IQ or subtest scores in interpreted versus signed administrations

This study assessed the effectiveness of a broad based psychotherapeutic intervention with a sample of 72 children sexually abused at a residential school for the deaf. An untreated comparison group emerged when about half of their parents refused the offer for psychotherapy provided by the school. Treated and untreated children were randomly assigned to two assessment groups: those who participated in a pretreatment assessment and those who did not. Houseparents at the residential school used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) to rate the pretreatment assessment children before treatment and all 72 children one year after the implementation of psychotherapy. Children receiving therapy had significantly fewer behavior problems than children not receiving therapy. There was a differential response to therapy on the basis of sex. Boys receiving therapy had significantly lower scores on the following CBC scales than the no treatment group: Total, Internal, External, Somatic, Uncommunicative, Immature, Hostile, Delinquent, Aggressive, and Hyperactive. There were no differences on the Schizoid and Obsessive scales. Girls receiving therapy had significantly lower scores than the no treatment group on the following CBC scales: Total, External, Depressed, Aggressive, and Cruel. There were no differences on the Internal, Anxious, Schizoid, Immature, Somatic, and Delinquent scales.

As a primary physician for most deaf children, the otolaryngologist must be able to identify signs and symptoms of sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse is a topic of national concern as epidemiologic data indicate more than 100,000 American children become victims annually. This paper provides an overview of the incidence, demographic characteristics, risk factors, and dynamics of child sexual abuse within both the general handicapped and, specifically, the hearing imparied populations. Strategies for identifying the sexually abused hearing impaired child are delineated including the physical appearance and behavioral manifestations of child victims, as well as the characteristics of abusive caretakers and perpetrators. Case summaries are presented which illustrate these characteristics. A national center specializing in the evaluation and treatment of abused handicapped children is described.