Children with Disabilities

12. Isolation

Isolation from other children and adults means that many disabled children struggle to tell others about their experiences making it easier for abuse and neglect to remain hidden. Having few contacts outside the home, and inadequate and poorly co-ordinated support services for both disabled children and their families can increase isolation. The National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability note that disabled children (and others close to them) may not communicate about abuse because of a fear of losing the services on which they depend (NSPCC, 2003, as cited by Gov.uk, July 2009).