Children with Disabilities

16.1. Case Study 1

The foster parent of a thirteen year old boy with autistic spectrum disorder noticed on a visit home from residential school, bruising to his body and a black eye and on another occasion a fractured hand. The school had no record of any injuries and there was no explanation provided about how he had sustained them. His foster parent believed he could have indicated how he had been hurt. However because the child was not able to communicate verbally, a witness statement was not taken. (Source: National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability. It doesn’t happen to disabled children. NSPCC, 2003, as cited by gov.uk, July 2009)