10 Ways to Spot Child Abuse in a Non-Verbal Child

According to the Cleveland Clinic, Risk factors for child abuse include: Living in poverty, being younger than 4 years old, and having special needs. Yep, the more vulnerable the child, the more likely they are to be abused.

1 - Unexplained Reactions. If you see a child reacting negatively and intensely to a specific person, regularly, that is a RED FLAG. Even if a child doesn't particularly like someone, they are not going to have extreme reactions to someone who isn't causing them harm or distress.

2 - Bruising on ears. Yep, you read that right. The ears. Think about it. When do children get bruises on their ears? When someone pinches or squeezes them.

3 - Bruising on the torso, especially the inner thighs or near the diaper area. Similar to the above. While an occasional torso bruise can be explained, these aren't areas that children tend to bruise themselves through play.

4 - Pinch marks. 'nuff said.

5 - Self harm. Think hitting themselves, biting their fingers and making them bleed, extreme teeth grinding.

6 - Lack of self-advocacy. When Declan's abuse stopped, I was amazed that he would start to complain about things. He couldn't talk. I don't mean he complained with his words. But even a toddler or baby will complain about things they don't like. My therapist who was helping me to help Declan through behaviors (he couldn't engage in talk therapy) explained that this was normal. That children who are being abused often won't complain about anything unless it's life or death. Nothing seems that important compared to that. Kids have opinions about things when they feel safe enough to have those opinions.

7 - Panic Attacks. For Declan, he would wake up with them. He'd cry and hold his breath and his sats would drop. He'd turn blue or purple. At the time we thought he was getting recurring trach plugs but never saw plugs when we changed the trach. It didn't add up.

8 - Being Withdrawn. Watching Declan come out of his shell with the abuse stopped was bittersweet. I loved watching him thrive but knowing how bad things must have been for so long for him to be as withdrawn as he was, was gut wrenching.

9 - Someone asks you for space while they're with your child.

10 - Something just doesn't add up. Listen to your gut!