Bringing Social Justice Into Focus: “Trauma-Informed” Work With Children With Disabilities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Child and youth mental health practitioners are certain to encounter children with disabilities in their practices. Children with disabilities experience violence and abuse at higher rates than children without disabilities. Consequently, it is essential to consider the needs and experiences of this population when developing trauma-informed care practices and policies. This article explores how the traumatic experiences of children with disabilities are accounted for in the academic literature and how this knowledge may shape trauma-informed practice in mental health settings. Grounded in Critical Disability Studies, a scholarly discipline that emerged out of disability rights activism, this article demonstrates how the individual experiences of children with disabilities cannot be separated from the operation of ableism and disableism. Ableism and disableism are systems of oppression and marginalization that create the environment in which violence toward children with disabilities occurs—a fact largely neglected within the mental health practice literature. This article advances the argument that in order for trauma-informed practices to be truly trauma-informed, they must challenge forms of systemic and structural oppression that uphold cultures of violence. Further, it is necessary to expose and challenge the often subtle ways that ableism and disableism manifest in professional practice.