Recognizing Signs of Trauma in Children Who Lack Communication Skills

There’s so much talk these days about “trauma-informed care” – mostly because of the increase in school shootings. However, kids are traumatized by more than perpetrators from the outside coming into their school buildings to cause them harm.

Children who are not able to verbally communicate are very often educated in classrooms that lack typically developing peers who can act as reporters. A restricted setting in itself is not the problem, however. There are many wonderful special educators who care a great deal for their students and protect them at all costs.  The problem is that children who have been determined to need this separate setting are often non-verbal, limited in overall communication, or incapable of telling trusted adults when things go wrong. Likewise, classmates typically have the same challenges. When mistreatment goes undetected, the children become so accustomed to it that they think that it’s the norm and can very easily go through life accepting treatment that they should not. 

Especially in light of evidence that we’ve seen in the news this year of children who are not able to verbally communicate that they are being mistreated by those expected to protect them, it’s important that parents be aware of the red flags that something may be worth investigating.

• Doesn’t want to get out of the car or on or off the bus in the morning
• Irregular or challenging sleep patterns (different than usual)
• Changes in behavior or school performance
• Increase in self-stimulatory behaviors
• Regression of learned skills
• Failure to make educational progress – same levels across the school year or years
• Replicating or imitating behaviors that they’ve experienced – echoing phrases said to them
• Has unexplained bruises (particularly as though they are fingerprints), scratches
• Fear of the dark, that wasn’t there before
• Withdraw from touch, that wasn’t there before
• Self injury
• Decrease in communication (especially loss of previously spoken words or phrases)
• Avoidance of certain people or places that didn’t previously exist
• Onset of new fears, obsessions or phobias

While some of the above can be signs of the disability itself and the challenges that they face, the distinction is that the observed behavior is out of the norm for that particular child (or adult).

If you have any concerns for your child’s safety, set up a time to do a school observation. Meet with administration. If your child has physical evidence of being hurt, take photos and date each photograph. If your concerns are significant, contact law enforcement. They are trained in knowing the correct reporting and processing protocols.