1996 dodge neon grinding sound

Congats to you, especially at 53. Go back to the passenger side and check the backing plate/dust cover for the rotor. They do bend or can be bent when doing the work you did. They can and will make noise and get louder when turning. I usually use a screwdriver and go around and bend it away from the rotor. Sometimes I have to pull the tire off, because it is rusted and rubbing towards to center of the rotor.

Hit in the rear axle may have damaged bearings or brake parts. Jack up the side you hear noise from, put on stand, then have helper rotate wheel while you look underneath and listen to see where noise is coming from. Use length of old fuel or heater hose, one end in ear, to locate exactly where noise comes from.

check to see if the dust shield behind the brake rotor got bent a little and is rubbing the rotor- cheers Denny

Wheel bearings

I do think the same way. If the pads look flat and not so worn have the rotor turned to eliminate the squeaksyou are encountering

Brake pads are worn out. The ABS light would not come on because there is nothing wrong with the ABS. The grinding you are hearing are the brake pad backing plates rubbing against the rotor. You should have heard a high pitched squeal long before this happened. More than likely the rotors are now destroyed and will need replacing or at the very least turned in a machine shop. Fix this yesterday.

Squealing usually indicates that the brakes are in need of replacement. There is a small piece of metal that as the brake pads wear comes in contact with the metal rotor. When the pads get close to being worn away the tab touches the rotor and it squeals. The tab can also click.
When the pads are worn away completely the metal backing comes in contact with the rotor and it grinds. Grinding is bad. It means the car's brakes are metal to metal. This will cause damage to the rotors resulting in an even more costly brake job.
You should have it taken care of ASAP.
I hope this helps.

Check the front drive axles and boots. A bad cv (constant velocity) joint can cause this.

sounds like something was jammed, or loose. I'd recommend taking it back to where the brakes were done and have them check it out in case something they did is messed up.

it sounds like to me the pads are draging on the rotor. when you stop the pads stay tuching the rotor. so if you had it done profesonally take it back. if you did it you self get some brake lube and aplay it on any moving parts