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Abuse Prevention

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Recently, an individual with developmental disabilities was tortured, bound and gagged for several hours by four assailants who targeted the teen due to his disabilities. Several sources report that the incident was broadcast live on social media on January 03, 2017 (CNN, The New York Daily News, The Chicago tribune). It is shocking that someone could watch these horrific acts from the other side of a video camera without intervening. While the motives and circumstances are still being debated, there is one positive outcome — the perpetrators will be prosecuted because of the explicit documentation.

Most cases of abuse of people with developmental disabilities, however, go unreported.  According to a “A Report on the 2012 National Survey on Abuse of People with Disabilities” by the Spectrum Institute Disability and Abuse Project, “Nearly half of victims with disabilities did not report abuse to authorities. Most thought it would be futile to do so. For those who did report abuse, nearly 54% said that nothing happened” (Baladerian, Thomas, Coleman, & Stream, 2013).

Knowing how to look for signs of abuse and how to report suspected abuse is an important part of the training that Fidelity House Human Services provides for staff, for individuals with developmental disabilities as well as for guardians and family caregivers.

Director of Quality Assurance and Training, Erica Skianes, coordinates yearly Disabled Persons Protection and Human Rights training. She also provides a monthly refresher on the subject of Human Rights. Erica explains that individuals with developmental disabilities can be vulnerable because they often rely on other people to make choices for them. “They are often conditioned to accept the things that happen to them. Our main focus is to ensure the safety and the health of each person with disabilities. We have to help people to find their voice to and empower them to speak up when something is not right.” Using techniques such as role playing and story-telling, Fidelity House training sessions are designed to reach people of all cognitive levels and communication abilities.

For information on how to protect Individuals with Development Disabilities, please go to the Disabled Persons Protection Commission website http://www.mass.gov/dppc/  or contact the DPPC Abuse Reporting Hotline 1-800-426-9009.

Judy NormandinAbuse Prevention

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  • Gregory Deyermenjian - January 31, 2017 reply

    Tô complete the facts of the specific and very illustrative as well as horrific case referred to, it was not only the developmentally disabled aspect of the person victimized, but that the individual in question had supported the winning yet “wrong” candidate for president, that marked him for abuse. Thus, this was a doubly abhorrent crime, against both the developmentally disabled, and against the right of all of us–and especially those with developmental disabilities–to exhibit a diversity of thought and opinion.

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