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Tactics of Abuse by Functional Category

Balance

If a person experiences limitations in balance, an abuser might:

Break necessary assistive equipment like her walker, crutches, scooter, or wheelchair to keep her from leaving or to keep her dependant
Move things from her reach to keep her from leaving or communicating with other people
Become a relied-upon, or primary, caregiver before assaulting or abusing her

Cognitive Functions

If a person experiences cognitive function limitations, an abuser might:

Humiliate her based on her cognitive abilities—“You’re stupid.” “You’re useless.”
Exploit her lack of education around sex, sexuality and relationships
Treat her memory limitation or inability to understand something as resistance
Alter or lie about an interaction or conversation to confuse her or make her feel bad about how she interacts with others
Interpret falsely or inaccurately for her
Lie about what other people say about her
Become a relied-upon caregiver or companion before assaulting or abusing her
Break her adaptive equipment, such as a communication board or certain computer software
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities or helps her to decompress

Communication

If a person experiences voice, speech or language limitations, an abuser might:

Interpret falsely or inaccurately for her
Lie about what other people say to her to confuse her
Prevent her from leaving, keep her dependent, or keep her isolated by removing access to necessary assistive equipment such as a pager or text or communication board
Hurt her hands so she can’t communicate using her assistive equipment
Become a relied-upon, or primary, caregiver before assaulting or abusing her
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities

Culturally Deaf

If a person is culturally Deaf, an abuser might:

Use intimidation with body language and proximity when signing
Move away from the Deaf community to isolate her
Check or destroy her pager, instant messenger, e-mail, TTY, or video phone conversations and erase messages or falsely reply
Throw inappropriate objects as a way to get her attention
Keep her financially dependent by sabotaging her chances for getting a job by spreading rumors about her in the small Deaf community
Deny abuse by saying it is ok in Deaf culture
Take advantage of the lack of accessible services for Deaf survivors

If the abuser is hearing:

Take advantage of institutions that are not accessible to Deaf people by interpreting falsely or inaccurately for her
Not allow her children to use ASL to communicate with her
Put her down by saying she is not good enough because she is Deaf

Dimensional Extremes

If a person experiences dimensional extremes, an abuser might:

Humiliate her based on her size
Reinforce stereotypes that devalue people based on their size
Treat her like a child if she is a little person
Move assistive equipment, household items, or other necessary objects from where she can reach them
Break or steal assistive technology like scooters, crutches, walkers, cane, stools, or lifts
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities

Mental Health

If a person experiences limitations around mental health, an abuser might:

Humiliate her by telling people of her mental health diagnosis
Minimize or deny abuse by telling her she’s imagining it or hallucinating
Threaten to have her institutionalized if she reports the abuse
Prevent her from getting help for her symptoms
Keep medications from her, give her too much medication, demand that she takes medication
Take advantage of the changes in her symptoms and mood by, for example, deepening suicidal feelings by encouraging them
Threaten to take her children away and tell court of her illness
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities or helps her to decompress

Movement and Mobility

If a person experiences limitations in movement and mobility, an abuser might:

Prevent her from leaving or keep her dependent by removing access to necessary assistive equipment—like her cane, walker, crutches, scooter, or wheelchair
Hide or move necessary or household items out of her reach to keep her dependent
Tell concerned parties or the police that broken bones, bruises or other injuries are a result of her disability Become a relied-upon, or primary, caregiver before assaulting or abusing her
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities

Respiratory Functions

If a person experiences limitations in respiratory function, an abuser might:

Humiliate her by telling people about her illness, symptoms, or restrictions
Take control of the medication and devices that she uses to help her breathe—such as nebulizers, bi-paps, c-paps, inhalers and other medications.
Keep her in a state of near-asphyxiation by taking away access to medications or oxygen that she uses during a crisis
Expose her to, or create, conditions that will aggravate her condition—allergens, cold weather, certain environments, smoke

Sensory

If a person experiences sensory limitations, an abuser might:

Vision

Alter or destroy materials that do not come to her in an accessible format
Crush lenses, eyewear that protects eyes from light, or other optical devices
Steal or break her white cane
Intentionally move objects or disrupt her systems for money and other important items
Follow her and stalk her without her detecting it
Become a relied-upon, or primary, caregiver before assaulting or abusing her
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities

Hearing

Interpret falsely or inaccurately for her
Lie about what other people say to her to confuse her
Cut her off from important communication by stealing, breaking or hiding her assistive devices
Threaten, injure or abuse her “hearing dog”

Touch

Take advantage of her inability to coordinate complex movements like walking or fastening buttons
Burn or injure her because she does not register the sensation
Harm, or treat carelessly, areas that are numb or sensitive while dressing or washing
Ignore her claims of being uncomfortable or in pain when being touched

Stamina and Fatigue

If a person experiences stamina and fatigue limitations in balance, an abuser might:

Force her to over-exert herself by demanding participation in activities that worsen her health
Create environments that drain her energy—too much noise, too much light, too many people
Prevent her from leaving or keep her dependent by removing access to necessary assistive equipment—like her cane, walker, crutches, scooter or wheelchair
Keep medications from her, give her too much medication, or demand that she take medication
Become a relied-upon, or primary, caregiver before assaulting or abusing her
Threaten, injure or abuse the service animal that helps her carry out basic activities or helps her to decompress