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So far this month I’ve given much blog space to autism, because April is National Autism Awareness month. But the CDC, whose oft quote “1 in 150” statistic for the growing autism epidemic released another statistic yesterday:
“About 1 in 50 infants in the U.S. are victims of non-fatal child neglect or abuse.”
This equates to about 91,000 children under the age of 1 who have been abused, or more likely had their basic needs left unmet — food, clothing, access to medical care. The report says nothing about the traumatic results of this neglect, or the impact on these children’s emotional health.
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But anyone who has ever worked with or parented a child whole had been neglected knows there is a huge impact.
The data, gathered by the CDC in conjunction with Federal Administration for Children and Families, came from the databases of 45 state’s protective services agencies. In otherwords, the 91,000 were reported cases of abuse and neglect. Further the study showed that only 13% of the infants were victims of actual physical abuse. Neglect seems to account for the majority of the cases. With the 30,000 newborns, there were many whose mothers tested positive for drug or alcohol use at the time of their birth.
“We certainly were distressed” by the study’s results, said Ileana Arias, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
“It’s a picture you don’t want to imagine – that this number of infants is being mistreated,” Arias added.
I agree with Ms. Arias, to a point. I am distressed by these numbers as well. 1 in 50 infants neglected or abused is a huge number. Think of how much publicity is given to the children with autism and you have a 3x higher likelihood of being a neglected infant! But Ms. Arias says “it’s a picture you don’t want to imagine”. And I think she sums up what society’s opinion is on abuse, and especially neglect, and it’s effect on small children.
We don’t want to think about it. And if they physically live through it, we rarely go back to explore the mental and emotional damage that has been done. Instead, we act surprised when the child develops psychiatric disorders, emotional problems or is developmentally delayed. We label and treat these disorders, without firmly recognizing the trauma underneath.
Or proactively looking for ways to make this 1 in 50 number come down.
Those of us who are adoptive or foster parents of children who have been traumatized are not surprised by these statistics. We’re saddened, but hopeful that the rest of society will see that the effects of abuse and neglect are REAL! And that it’s not a rare occurrence. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll find a “cure” to one of the most curable, and most devastating, childhood disabilities there is.
