Parents with Intellectual Disability in a Population Context

Parenting by people with intellectual disability continues to confront societal sensibilities. On the one hand, parents with intellectual disability engage in the valued social role of raising children; on the other, their parenting attracts (typically negative) attention based on an expectation of their limited capacities to parent. The literature primarily addresses the question of whether or not parents with intellectual disability can be adequate parents or reports on methods for improving their parenting skills. An emerging trend in the literature over the last decade takes a different perspective. Rather than concentrating exclusively on parents with intellectual disability, this perspective focuses on their parenting situation compared to that of other parents more generally. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge about parents and parenting with intellectual disability in this broader population context. The focus of the paper is on the use of larger scale datasets to understand the situation of parents with intellectual disability compared with other parents and to examine the contextual variables that influence their parenting.Centre for Disability Research and Polic

Understanding safeguarding practices for children with disability when engaging with organisations

This resource explores how an understanding of abuse and neglect, relating to children with disability, can assist in establishing child-safe organisations

The social-emotional wellbeing of children of mothers with intellectual impairment and their peers

It has been well documented for at least 70 years that families headed by parents with intellectual impairment experience multiple disadvantages. These families are often isolated with significantly strained socio-economic resources and limited social support and networks. Compared to other parents, parents with intellectual impairment have higher rates of unemployment, poorer health, and fewer stable relationships. These contextual factors are known to influence child outcomes for other parents. Children of parents with intellectual impairment have been thought to have poorer developmental outcomes than their peers due to the impairment of their parent/s. Currently, the findings from studies on the outcomes of children of parents with intellectual impairment are mixed. This is not surprising given the methodological limitations of many studies. The overall purpose of this doctoral study was to examine the contextual factors which influence children’s social-emotional wellbeing outcomes and to do so utilising a large representative population survey. The study employed an ecological theoretical framework to examine context by individual, family and environmental domains. The findings from this study support previous studies and show children of mothers with intellectual impairment show poorer social-emotional wellbeing during the pre- and early school years compared to children who do not have a mother with intellectual impairment. However, consistent with other studies which utilise population data for people with intellectual impairment and adjust for various factors in the family and/or environmental domains, the risk of poorer child social-emotional wellbeing outcomes is decreased or eliminated. This indicates that poorer social-emotional wellbeing outcomes for children of mothers with intellectual impairment could possibly be attributed to poorer living conditions rather than their mothers’ intellectual impairment

Understanding Theory of Mind in Children who are Deaf

Research on theory of mind began in the context of determining whether chimpanzees are aware that individuals experience cognitive and emotional states. More recently, this research has involved various groups of children and various tasks, including the false belief task. Based almost exclusively on that paradigm, investigators have concluded that although ``normal'' hearing children develop theory of mind by age 5, children who are autistic or deaf do not do so until much later, perhaps not until their teenage years. The present study explored theory of mind by examining stories told by children who are deaf and hearing (age 9±15 years) for statements ascribing behaviour-relevant states of mind to themselves and others. Both groups produced such attributions, although there were reliable differences between them. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive abilities assumed to underlie false belief and narrative paradigms and the implications of attributing theory of mind solely on the basis of performance on the false belief task

Children with disability : rights, risks and opportunities

This chapter introduces important issues relating to children with disability and is primarily focused on the Australian context. The first section explains the concept of disability, types of disability, and the prevalence of childhood disability in Australia. The second section sets out human rights frameworks that enshrine the rights of children with disability and then describes key national policies that translate these rights into actions. The third section of the chapter outlines current research on social inclusion and considers environmental risks and opportunities with a focus on social interactions at home and school

Disability and child sexual abuse in institutional contexts

Children and young people with disability are often absent in discussions about child sexual abuse as people with disability are left out of discussions about violence, abuse and neglect. This is due in part to individuals with disability being excluded from society, hidden away in institutions or in family homes. Community attitudes contribute to and are informed by the fact that people with disability, including children, are often seen in segregated, special and demeaning settings. This situation is changing slowly. People with disability are taking their rightful place as citizens actively contributing to and increasingly benefiting from all that our society has to offer. Segregation and exclusion in closed institutional contexts away from public scrutiny leaves children (and adults) with disability at heightened risk of violence and harm including sexual abuse. Further, when children with disability are stereotyped as dependent and passive and unable to 'speak up', they are at heightened vulnerability to being segregated, abused, overlooked and not heard. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recognised early on the likely particular vulnerabilities of children with disability and the institutional contexts which they encounter. This commissioned discussion paper set out to provide a reasoned analysis of the historical, social and policy context surrounding children with disability and to examine the evidence about prevalence and prevention of sexual abuse of children with disability in institutional contexts. To achieve this aim we proceeded iteratively and conceptually, drawing on our expertise and cumulative experience of over 60 years in disability, child and family studies, and care and protection. We used reports, submissions, position papers and scientific literature in Australia to analyse past approaches to children with disability and the present context of the changing nature of disability services in Australia. While the paper draws from materials that are relevant to Australia as a whole, some documents from New South Wales are used to illustrate specific points. Just as children and young people with disability are rarely present in discussions about sexual abuse, they are also remarkably absent from Australian literature on this subject. This is a major failing: we do not know the extent of sexual abuse of Australian children with disability. We therefore turned to international literature to identify prevalence figures and to examine the interactions between impairment and environment and their potential influence on the risk of sexual abuse. We found that internationally there is no clearly developed evidence base for the prevalence and risk of sexual abuse of children with disability. We provide an analysis and critique of international prevalence and risk figures and the application of these in the Australian context. Quality of care and safeguarding processes form the basis of the disability reform agenda in Australia and also of the incoming market approach to specialist support and service delivery, which relies on mainstreaming, and building inclusive and accessible communities. This has led to debate on possible fail-safe governance mechanisms and prevention strategies, although with remarkably less focus on children and young people with disability. There is an absence of empirical data in Australia on strategies to prevent sexual abuse of children with disability in institutional contexts. Again, we turned to the international literature to source information on relevant key factors. We approached this from a public health perspective that recognises the need to implement both population-based and targeted interventions. In this discussion paper we argue the need to put aside the community perception that disability is embedded within the child. This is not the official understanding of disability in Australia. Instead, disability is understood as arising from interactions between individuals with impairment and the various barriers that may hinder (their) full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. This understanding comes from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). We adhere to the key frameworks of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). These international covenants require that children with disability are considered as children first, with disability considered as only one feature and not the defining feature of their everyday lives. We also present an analysis and critique of the available literature on prevention of sexual abuse, noting the pitfalls in assuming a 'special group' approach to children with disability or a broad-brush approach to diversity. The human rights perspective is embedded within Australian legislation and policy directives in disability. It provides an excellent foundation to ensure that children with disability and their rights are more visible and to give them the same priority as other children. This is essential to ensure children with disability are safe in institutional contexts in the future

Mother of a problem! : are the needs of mothers with intellectual disability being addressed in the NDIS era?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced to provide rights-based entitlement support for Australians with disability, replacing the previous welfare-based policy framework. However, there are indications this rights-based support has not eventuated for mothers with intellectual disability, with growing reports of their reduced access to the parenting support to which they are entitled under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. Despite the NDIS promise of an equitable disability care system that would seamlessly complement State-funded services, reports from mothers with intellectual disability and their advocates suggest that cost-shifting between the Commonwealth and State Governments has reinforced service silos and opened up service gaps for a group of women who need support from both the disability and family support systems. Moreover, a concerning absence of reliable, transparent data makes it difficult to monitor the wellbeing of families headed by mothers with intellectual disability and also suggests these families are no longer a priority for Australian Governments. In this commentary, we advocate for: i) publicly available data on how the NDIS identifies and addresses the support needs of mothers with intellectual disability; ii) the integration of State and Commonwealth funding mechanisms to enable mothers with intellectual disability to access a parenting supplement linked to their NDIS funding and; iii) the rebuilding of national capacity in evidence-based parenting education and support for mothers with intellectual disability across all Australian service systems

What is the relationship between childhood maltreatment and early educational outcomes? Findings from the NSW Child Development Study

Snapshot• Children who have experienced maltreatment, no matter the level of involvement with child protectionservices, are at greater risk of attaining poorer educational outcomes in primary school assessments of reading and numeracy.• Compared to non-reported children, children known to child protection services were more likely to have below average primary school assessments of reading and numeracy and less likely to achieve above average results.• Children with substantiated risk of significant harm (ROSH) reports who were not placed into out-of-home-care (OOHC) showed the poorest educational attainment and would benefit from personalised educational supports and educational plans such as those provided for children in OOHC.• The educational attainment of children placed in OOHC appears to be strongly influenced by other related child, family, and neighbourhood factors (e.g., socioeconomic status) that are known to be associated with OOHC placements.• Inter-agency policy collaboration is important, particularly between the Department of Education and the Department of Communities and Justice, to develop and invest in effective multidisciplinary programs that support vulnerable children’s educational needs.° All children in OOHC should participate in the OOHC Education Pathway that provides collaborative and consistent educational support to help them engage with suitable quality education and reach their full learning potential.° Broader provision of educational supports in vulnerable communities, for example under the Government’s Brighter Beginnings initiative, may help to address the impact of maltreatment on educational attainment for all children reported to child protection services

Child protection services for children with special healthcare needs: A population record linkage study

Children with disabilities are known to have high rates of contact with child protection services. However, little is known about child protection contacts for a broader group of children with special healthcare needs (SHCN; i.e., special needs or other impairments of concern that affect learning). This study examined the characteristics of contact with child protection services (prior to the age of 6 years) for children with SHCN identified at school entry using the 2009 Australian Early Development Census, using administrative data from more than 65,000 children in the New South Wales Child Development Study. Child protection contacts prior to age 6 years were more prevalent among children with SHCN compared with those without; in particular, children with SHCN had higher odds of a history of exposure to neglect and physical abuse, and higher odds of being placed in out-of-home care, compared with their typically developing peers. Understanding the characteristics of child protection contacts among children with SHCN, with consideration of factors that may influence their patterns of contact with these and other human services agencies, will inform the development of appropriate social policy initiatives to fulfil Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.</p

Examining the overlap of young people's early contact with the police as a person of interest and victim or witness

There is known to be considerable overlap among the victims and perpetrators of crime. However, the extent of this overlap early in life among children and young adolescents is not clear. We examined the sociodemographic profiles of young people who had early contact with police regarding a criminal incident as a person of interest, victim and/or witness, as well as the patterns of multiple police contact types from birth to 13 years of age. Data were drawn from a longitudinal, population-based sample of 91,631 young people from New South Wales, Australia. Among the 10.6% (n = 9677) of young people who had contact with police, 14.4% (n = 1393) had contact as a person of interest and as a victim and/or witness on two or more separate occasions. The most common first contact type was as a victim/witness, but those children with a first contact as a person of interest were most likely to have at least one further contact. Young people with both types of police contact were younger at first police contact, were more likely to reside in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area, and to be recorded as having an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background. Our findings demonstrate that, by 13 years of age, 1 in 10 young people had been in early contact with police and that a minority have contact with the police as both a person of interest and a victim/witness. These young people may represent a particularly disadvantaged group in the community who are likely to be at risk of future adversity, including repeated contact with the criminal justice system