VALUES STORY: The disabling effects of violence

c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Six years after enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a small but disturbing new group is swelling the ranks of the disabled: young victims of violence _ from gang members surviving gunshot wounds to children harmed by abuse. It’s an alarming development being noticed in all corners of […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Six years after enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a small but disturbing new group is swelling the ranks of the disabled: young victims of violence _ from gang members surviving gunshot wounds to children harmed by abuse.

It’s an alarming development being noticed in all corners of the disabled services community, from wheelchair manufacturers and salespeople to those who provide foster care and outreach workers to gang members.


“Certainly, there’s an unfortunate contingent of gunshot victims,” said David Mahaffy, senior marketing coordinator of Quickie Designs, a leading wheelchair manufacturer. “I’ve seen more of it recently than before. In terms of our entire marketplace, I don’t think, fortunately, that it’s that large. But that group is out there.”

Wheelchair salespeople also encounter the younger victims.

“You see more of what are called drug babies. That has been a real startling increase,” said Lee Roseberry, operations manager for Wheelchair House of Oregon.

Observations such as theirs, bolstered by statistics that hint at this emerging population, are driving the federal government to study violence-related disabilities. The goal is to direct public policy on the effect this segment of the disabled may have on everything from insurance costs to education needs.

The proportion of disabled Americans increased from 13.7 percent of the population in 1990 to 15 percent in 1994, for a total of 39 million. The main force behind the jump has been a dramatic increase in the number of younger people with disabilities _ an increase that outweighed even the effect of America’s growing elderly population, according to the federally funded Disability Statistics Information Center at the University of California-San Francisco.

The center defines the disabled as people limited in their daily activities by chronic health conditions or impairment _ from the blind or hearing-impaired to quadriplegics and people with debilitating arthritis.

In 1994, 15.8 million Americans below age 45 were disabled, 41 percent more than in 1990. The health conditions behind the increase point to some possible underlying causes.

In children below age 18, asthma, mental disorders, mental retardation and learning disabilities increased from 1990 to 1994.


While asthma might be caused by environmental factors, prenatal abuse and child abuse might be factors contributing to the increase in the other conditions, said Mitch LaPlante, director of the Disability Statistics Information Center.

“Fetal alcohol syndrome and, just generally, drug use during pregnancy are certainly factors,” LaPlante said.

At the same time, in adults ages 18 to 44, the number of back injuries and impairments, and mental and nervous disorders, has increased, which could point in part to injuries caused by gun violence, LaPlante said.

“The trend toward increased disability due to violence seems to exist,” LaPlante said. “It seems to be more an inner-city phenomenon that disproportionately affects young people and minorities.”

The federal government is catching on. The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, an arm of the Department of Education, is accepting grant proposals to look further at the causes fueling the increase in the numbers of the disabled.

Key areas of focus include mental retardation resulting from high-risk births and spinal cord injuries caused by interpersonal violence.


Those on the front lines with the disabled nationally and locally have seen the trend for several years.

Some salespeople say they have noticed increased numbers of disabled children whose mothers abused drugs or alcohol during their pregnancies.

“It’s to the point where it could have gone from zero to 10 percent of the business in pediatrics (about 100 children a year). It’s disheartening,” said Roseberry of the Wheelchair House of Oregon.

The trend in violence-related disabilities is evident at the funerals of some gang members. Able-bodied gang members often wheel in their now-disabled brethren, said Halim Rahsaan, program director of the Youth Gang Outreach Program in Portland, Ore.

“Everyone who gets shot does not always die,” Rahsaan said. “When it was a rivalry shooting, their gang peers treat them as if they’ve gone off to war and got a Purple Heart.”

Sgt. Neil Crannell of the Portland Police Gang Enforcement Team used to show a snapshot of Michael “J-Bo” Bell in his wheelchair _ still wearing red tennis shoes as a trademark of the Bloods gang _ to illustrate to young people what violence can do. Bell, shot several years ago, is now 26 and serving time in prison for delivering and manufacturing a controlled substance and for being an ex-convict in possession of a firearm.


Nationally, violence _ primarily gunshot wounds _ is the No. 3 cause overall of spinal cord injury, but the No. 2 cause among people 16 to 30 years old, according to the National Spinal Cord Statistical Center.

The effect on this population is already being seen, particularly in sports. Noticing this new group, Disabled Sports USA put together a special team of crime survivors for its Ski Spectacular in Colorado last year.

“In terms of percentage increases, people who are survivors of urban crime are on a tremendous growth curve,” said Ed Harrison of Disabled Sports, based in Maryland. “It’s good that we can bring our services to people who need them, but the fact that the need is there _ it’s just shocking.”

MJP END HOOVER

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