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Editor’s Note: This story mentions violence against and abuse of people with disabilities. 

Members of the Syracuse University community came together virtually Monday for Disability Day of Mourning, which honors people with disabilities who were murdered by their parents or caregivers.

Kate Corbett Pollack, coordinator with the Disability Cultural Center, led the event with a presentation that included the stories of several children who were killed by their parents or caregivers, a significant problem that many people don’t know about, Pollack said. 

The presentation was meant to educate participants about Disability Day of Mourning and the importance of recognizing violence against people with disabilities, particularly children, she said. 

“Disabled people are a highly victimized group, and sometimes people don’t know that,” said Pollack, who is deaf. 

The charity and medical models of disability — outdated understandings which push the narrative that people with disabilities deserve pity or want to be cured — often contribute to bias and lead to violence, Pollack said. 

The social model, which emphasizes that disability-related challenges stem from inaccessible social structures rather than disabilities themselves, is most widely accepted today, she said.

“The social model of disability is the one that we in the disability community prefer,” Pollack said. “(It) says that the disability is not a problem. Lack of access is the problem.”  

Pollack told several stories of children with disabilities who were tortured or killed by caregivers and are memorialized each year on Disability Day of Mourning. 

To reduce violence against people with disabilities, it’s important to look at where such violence typically occurs, Pollack said — places like residential schools, nursing homes, orphanages, group homes and other institutions where people with disabilities could be isolated.

But much of this violence occurs at home, especially with adoptive families and home-school situations. Children with disabilities are abused at higher rates for several reasons, Pollack said.

About 50% of deaf people have been sexually assaulted as children, but only 5% report to police, often due to communication barriers, she said. 

Pollack also discussed the intersections of ability and race, among other identities. Black people with disabilities have long been wrongly institutionalized and deemed “insane.” Whiteness within the disability rights movement is an issue, as people with disabilities are often only depicted as white, she said. 

Pollack concluded the event by answering questions from the audience about how to prevent violence against people with disabilities. Best practices include increased disability studies education and greater awareness about spotting potential abuse among those who work with children who have disabilities. 

People can work to unlearn unconscious biases they have against people with disabilities that perpetuate violence, Pollack said.

“Disabled people are viewed as being less than able-bodied people. They are considered a burden and their lives are not as valuable,” Pollack said. “That is a problem that many people unfortunately think, particularly those who commit crimes against disabled people and who abuse disabled people.”

Published on March 1, 2021 at 10:41 pm

Contact Sarah: [email protected] | @sarahalessan