“Can Child Maltreatment Cause Language Delays”
Nicole Richter
Nova Southeastern University
SLP 6070- Research Methods
Abstract
Children who have been exposed to maltreatment have been linked to have delays in several areas including language, poor academic functioning, cognitive deficits, post traumatic stress disorder, impairments in empathy and attachment, aggression, and criminal behavior. They have developmental delays due to the lack of resources and stimulation from adults, and reduced maternal emotional availability. It is also proven that children who were severely neglected have issues with attachment, cognitive impairments, inattention, overactivity, and Autistic features. (McDonald,
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The number of children entering the U.S Child Welfare System (CWS) has increased in the past two decades. Children birth to five years of age make up almost half (46.7%) of the new victims of child maltreatment in the U.S and over a third (38.4%) of all children in foster care (Merrit & Klien, 2015). Research done over the last twenty-five years has shown that severe parental neglect has an extreme effect on child development. In the U.S, neglect constitutes for 54% of maltreated victims each year (Sylvestre & Merette, …show more content…
The main form of child maltreatment is neglect, which can result in lifelong consequences (Naughton et al., 2013). Neglect refers to a child’s caretaker failing to meet the needs of a child that are required for the child’s physical, intellectual, and emotional development (Sylvestre, 2010). The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children describe psychological maltreatment as “patterns of damaging interactions between the parent-carer and child through acts of omission or commission, acknowledging that emotional neglect and abuse have equally damaging effects on the child” (Naughton et al., 2013). The caretaker is inattentive to the child’s emotional needs, nurturing needs, and emotional well-being. Neglected children lack parental support, leaving the children with greater relational stress. Severe parental neglect has a damaging impact on a child’s language development, with many studies revealing significant impacts on receptive and expressive language delay (Sylvestre, 2010). Maltreatment can also have a huge effect on brain development, which can lead to cognitive, behavioral, affective, academic, and social functioning impairments. Impaired language performance is shown in maltreated children, with other issues in poor functioning on measures of visuospatial processing, memory and learning, and perceptual