NCJ Number
190965
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2001 Pages: 243-253
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This Scottish study examined the views of professionals who, in working with children, used alternative/augmented communication systems in discussing abuse with the children.
Abstract
Interviews were conducted with 20 staff from 8 establishments for disabled children across Scotland. This paper describes the range of alternative/augmented communication systems used by the staff, as well as the barriers to communication with the children about abuse. Staff generally accepted the importance of providing the appropriate vocabulary in augmented communication systems, but systems that provide such vocabulary were not widely used. Staff considered that a major difficulty concerned the level of understanding disabled children might have about concepts of abuse. They were unsure about how the appropriate vocabulary could be introduced in a natural way and how links could be made between the signs and their meanings. Staff viewed themselves as those most able to protect the children, but they believed that the detection of abuse was more likely to come from observing physical signs of abuse as well as behavior and mood changes, rather than from having the child communicate explicitly about abuse. The need for appropriate training and increased coordination between social work, health, and education is highlighted. 1 table and 27 references