Forensic Evaluation: Damages Of Children And Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities

series, Abused and Betrayed, on abuse of adults with intellectual disabilities. After a yearlong investigation, Shapiro’s series was presented on-air on All Things Considered. Shapiro Stated: “There is an epidemic of sexual assault against people with intellectual disabilities; that these crimes go mostly un-recognized, unprosecuted, and unpunished. One frequent result: the abuser is free to abuse again. The victim gets victimized over and over”. Erika Harrell responds to: “It is not surprising because they do Abstract The purpose of this article is to both expand awareness of the prevalence of abuse of people with disabilities and to describe responses to this problem both in preparation for abuse occurring to individuals and in care programs, and the post-assault actions that can be taken to support the victims and their families following the discovery of the abuse. This article focuses on work with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), although the information can be useful for working with individuals with any type of disability.