Disabilities Manual
Dear Visitor,
Thank you for joining us at The J.E. and Z.B. Butler Child Advocacy Center site. The Child Advocacy Center is dedicated to serving children who have been abused and their families and to preventing all forms of child abuse. We, therefore, committed ourselves to seeking the best approaches to protecting one of the most vulnerable populations of children, those who are disabled.
With the generous support of the J.E. and Z.B. Butler Foundation we explored the literature for direction and resources, we interfaced and met with those agencies and individuals who provide services to children with disabilities, and while recognizing their vulnerabilities, we also recognized the strengths and resilience of these special children.
Out of this work came many contacts and opportunities to share our new knowledge and experiences. Dr. Jamie Hoffman-Rosenfeld has raised the awareness of so many professionals with her presentations and workshops at conferences. We hope that what we have learned is helping other child advocates provide enhanced outreach and services.
But we have also recognized that with our new knowledge and resources have come more questions, needs for additional information and always the need to continue networking. We therefore decided that the manual on child abuse among children with disabilities could not be a finished product, a final report but had to be a place where we could share our work and others could join us with additional resources, thoughts, experience, advice and lessons learned.
We therefore welcome you to join us in perhaps the greatest and most challenging quest; the commitment to the vision of protecting all children, of assuring that each child has the opportunity to grow, and learn and enjoy being a child, safe and healthy and secure. Each special child with his or her own unique challenges and gifts deserves our full attention to this vision. So please read this manual and use it, add to it, criticize it, change it. Together we will be changing the world to be a better place for all kids.
Most sincerely,
Karel R. Amaranth, MA
Executive Director
