Information for Workers

Disability and Safeguarding

Web Links

Aiming High for Disabled Children - Update August 2007

Safeguarding Disabled Children: A Resource for Local Safeguarding Children Boards 2006

“It doesn’t happen to disabled children” – Child protection and disabled children: Report on the National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability.  NSPCC (2003).

‘How it is’ - an image vocabulary that has been developed to help children communicate about a range of important issues. It has been developed by Triangle and funded and supported by the NSPCC.  

Triangle Services – Training and Consultacy service working mostly with disabled children. They have an a new e-newsletter for which you can sign up.

Suggested Reading

Brown, H. and Craft, A. (eds) (1989) Thinking the Unthinkable: papers on sexual abuse and people with learning difficulties. London: Family Planning Association.

Cooke, P. (2000) Final Report on Disabled Children and Abuse. Nottingham: The Ann Craft Trust.

Cross, M., Gordon, R., Kennedy, M., Marchant, R. (1993) Abuse and Children who are Disabled (ABCD Pack). London: NSPCC.

Cross, S. B., Kaye, E., Ratnofsky, A. C. (1993) A Report on the Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities. Washington, DC, USA: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Kennedy, M. (1989) The abuse of deaf children, Child Abuse Review 3(1), 3–7.

Kennedy, M. (1990a) The deaf child who is sexually abused – is there a need for a dual specialist?, Child Abuse Review 4(2), 3–6.

Kennedy, M. (1996) Sexual abuse and disabled children, in: Morris, J. (ed.)

Kennedy, M. and Kelly, L. (eds) (1992) Abuse and Children with Disabilities, Child Abuse Review 1(3) (special edition).

Kennedy and Wonnacott (2003) Disabled Children and the Assessment Framework – In Assessment in Child Care: Using and developing frameworks for practice (Calder & Hackett eds 2003)

Kennedy and Wonnacott (2005) Neglect of Disabled Children – In Child Neglect: Practice Issues for Health and Social Care (Taylor & Daniel eds 2005)

Marchant. R. (1991) Myths and facts about sexual abuse and children with disabilities, Child Abuse Review 5(2), 22–24.

Morris, J. (1998c) Accessing Human Rights: disabled children and the Children Act. Ilford: Barnardo’s.

Morris, J. (1999) Disabled children, child protection systems and the Children Act, Child Abuse Review 8, 91–108.

National Deaf Children’s Society/NSPCC (1998) Safe in Your Hands. London: National Deaf Children’s Society.

Sullivan P. M. and Knutson, J. F. (2000) Maltreatment and Disabilities: a population based epidemiological study, Child Abuse and Neglect 24(10).

Sullivan, P. M., Knutson, J. F., Scanlan, J. M., Cork, P. M. (1997) Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities: family risk factors and prevention implications, Journal of Child Centred Practice 4, 33–46.

Utting, W. (1997) People Like Us: The report of the review of the safeguards for children living away from home. London: The Stationery Office.

Waterhouse, R. (2000) Lost in Care: report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into the abuse of children in care in the former county council areas of Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974. London: The Stationery Office.

Westcott. H. (1993) Abuse of Children and Adults with Disabilities. London: NSPCC.

Westcott, H. and Cross, M. (1996) This Far and no Further: towards ending the abuse of disabled children. Birmingham: Venture Press.

Westcott, H. and Jones, D. (1999) The Abuse of Disabled Children, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40(4), 497–506.