Does child abuse cause Developmental Disabilites

Page 1 of 3 [ 43 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 5:01 am

I have been told it does. When I was a child and welfare became involved - They said, that it is likely that the disability I had was caused through being physically abused - as causing damage to my brain.



Last edited by BellaDonna on 24 Jan 2009, 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

24 Jan 2009, 5:06 am

Yes it can. Ever heard of feral children? Some people lock them away in their own home and they never see daylight and the real world so their minds don't develope the skills so therefore it stays wired that way so it's like brain damage because they will never recover from it and be normal.



BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 5:12 am

It is true that people who were as abused as children are more likely to abuse thier children (I know this is not always the case) So it is true people with developmental disabilites are at higher risk of abusing children.



blue_bean
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,617
Location: Behind the wheel

24 Jan 2009, 5:13 am

Yes in a way.

"The Girl In the Window" is a good example of it:
http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece



BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 5:17 am

I have heard of child protection not gettin correct treatment for a child because they did not realise they had autism (they did) - they thought it was just because of abuse.



Vanilla_Slice
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Oct 2008
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 515
Location: Hungary

24 Jan 2009, 6:36 am

Maybe, first you need to define 'abuse'.

As a kid my parents hardly ever hit me and I was never locked up in cupboards. I was however subjected to an extremely religious upbringing and I received absolutely no instruction or guidance when it came to things like social skills and acceptable behavior. So long as I followed in the steps of Jesus then everything was fine and dandy in their world.

Was this abuse? You betcha it was!

Vanilla Slice



BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 7:29 am

That would be a form of neglect.



9CatMom
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jan 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 5,403

24 Jan 2009, 10:06 am

Shaken baby syndrome can result brain damage, if not death, to an infant. Neglect, such as not talking or reading to a child or instructing them in skills they will need growing up, will also stunt a child's growth.



cmastler
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jan 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 123
Location: Well i'm...not on this planet, ok?

24 Jan 2009, 10:16 am

I wouldn't know the answer to this, as I was never in such situations before...


_________________
CHOP CHOP CHOP BLOOOCCK!! !! !! !! *shooted*

I'm happy with how I am, I don't care if nobody understand's. Because i'm just me, nomatter what.

And, yes...i'm 18 years old. Or I could be 12. Does it even matter?


Katie_WPG
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 7 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 492
Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

24 Jan 2009, 10:17 am

Sure, there are some cases where parental action can cause unspecified DDs. Either through violence or drug/alchohol use in utero.

But all the abuse in the world won't give you autism or AS. Whoever said that your AS/ your daughter's autism was caused by abuse should be ashamed of themselves.



Anemone
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,060
Location: Edmonton

24 Jan 2009, 12:51 pm

Brain damage can lead to mental retardation, as others have said.

Insecure attachment, from inadequate emotional support on the part of the parent, especially in the first three years, can lead to life-long insecurity and clingy or avoidant behaviour, as well as disorganized thinking. Someone posted a link to a document discussing the next DSM and it mentioned an east Asian country (Korea?) that is seeing an increase in this because of primary caregivers entering the workforce when their kids are really young, and how avoidant attachmentn patterns can be confused with autism (on the surface, anyway). Attachment theory started with John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth and is summarized in Robert Karen's Becoming Attached.



IdahoRose
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 19,801
Location: The Gem State

24 Jan 2009, 1:23 pm

I was raised in the most loving home environment anyone could imagine, and yet I wound up with a whole cocktail of mental problems. Everybody's circumstances are different.



taintedangelboy
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 102
Location: Florida in Winter, France in Summer

24 Jan 2009, 1:28 pm

blue_bean wrote:
Yes in a way.

"The Girl In the Window" is a good example of it:


I love this story it is so bitter sweet. I followed every posting of it when it first came out. Her real mother was so unbelievably cruel, and then the new parents and all they are doing to help her.



ngonz
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Female
Posts: 249
Location: Upper Midwest

24 Jan 2009, 1:39 pm

Yes, it can and does. You can find research on the web that proves that abuse actually changes the brain of the child. I read a very good book last summer called "Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life" by Susan Forward. I recommend it for anyone who suffered or is currently still suffering from abusive parents.

Here are some web sites about abuse and the brain:

http://www.geneticsandhealth.com/2008/0 ... ood-abuse/

http://www.nospank.net/teicher.htm

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/5/36


As you read these, you will see that it is not just physical abuse that makes brain changes, but also neglect and psychological abuse.


_________________
"...gypsy lost in the twilight zone..."

www.neurointegrity.com


BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 1:45 pm

Anemone wrote:
Brain damage can lead to mental retardation, as others have said.


Not all people who have brain damage are mentally ret*d. It can take over forms such as epilepsy, learning disability etc



BellaDonna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Dec 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,858

24 Jan 2009, 1:59 pm

I was medicated for many years for epilepsy. However, eeg's I have had suggest I do not have epilepsy. I recieve disability payment because of learning impairments or mild damage to my brain of significant cognitve deficits - permanent in nature. It could have just been born that way though and such deficits typically go with autism and possibly AS - which is my diagnose. My IQ is normal, however, I am not ret*d. In some areas I am above average.

It does feel like I get seizures and I do blank out but the neurologist said I do not have epilepsy.