Prof. Dr. Vladimir Trajkovski presented this presentation on Erasmus International week at Laane Viru College in Rakvere, Estonia, March 14, 2019

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University “St. Cyril and Methodius”
Faculty of Philosophy
Institute of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism
Prof. Dr. med. Vladimir Trajkovski
March 14, 2019
Role of Social Workers in
autism spectrum disorders

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What is Autism Spectrum
Disorder?
Social
Communication
Social
Communication
Restricted and
Repetitive
Behaviors
Restricted and
Repetitive
Behaviors
Expressive Language LevelExpressive Language Level
Autism
Spectrum
Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual‐5th Edition
Level of Support NeededLevel of Support Needed

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Autism as
Autism can be considered as:
A Behavioral Disorder
A Cognitive Disorder
A Neurologic or Brain Disorder
A Developmental Neurobiologic Disorder
A Genetic & Epigenetic Disorder
А Mitochondrial Disorder
A Multiple Organ System Disorder
An Autoimmune Disorder
A Social problem

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Autism is Lifelong Disorder
Research suggests etiology of autism based in DNA.
Intervention can positively impact evolution of the
disorder, mitigate severity of symptoms.
Cannot “cure” the disorder. There is no magic
medicament.
Symptoms should modify with age and treatment.
On average, autism costs an estimated $60,000 a year
through childhood, with the bulk of the costs in special
services and lost wages related to increased demands on
one or both parents. Costs increase with the occurrence
of intellectual disability.

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Introduction (1)
Aligned with a deep-seated commitment to social justice,
the contemporary mission of the social work profession
is to increase opportunity and inclusion for the most
vulnerable among us.
Social workers encounter children with ASD in a variety
of areas including schools, daycare, child welfare
settings, social service organizations, hospitals, clinics
and mental health treatment facilities.
(Dababnah et al., 2010).
Among the several professions who work with children
with ASD, social workers have moved to the forefront in
the areas of case management, community interaction
and social skills training.
(Comegys & Guggemos, 2014).

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Introduction (2)
Social workers who work in healthcare settings can play
a key role in enhancing family-centered care through
crisis intervention, counseling, collaboration, advocacy,
and resource gathering for patients and their families.
(Craig & Muskat, 2013)
Social workers with knowledge of autism can be
especially supportive for children with autism and their
families as they may have an understanding and
appreciation of their unique challenges, resiliencies, and
strengths. (Preece & Jordan, 2007)
There remains an identified gap in knowledge
development and skill building for social workers who are
likely to come into professional contact with children with
autism and their families.

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Introduction (3)
Children with autism require individualized support
services throughout the formal educational process.
School social workers are often part of the goal planning
process.
They are often responsible for creating and supporting
an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) for the child.
Parents of children with an autism diagnosis often need
additional support, which the school social worker has
the opportunity to provide.
Parents are often in need of emotional support, as well
as resources within the school system and community.
There is a deficit in the research on how well social
workers are meeting the needs of parents (Newsome,
2000).

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What is the role of a social worker with a child with
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their family?
Social workers can play a broad role in supporting children
and youth with ASD and their families.
Parents and other family members can benefit from talking to
a social worker to address the various emotions and stress of
having a child with ASD in the family and to ensure that their
own needs are also met.
This could include providing information about the diagnosis,
assessment and treatment approaches, processing what the
diagnosis means to parent, siblings and other family, and
working together to assist the child with ASD to meet their
goals.
It is beneficial to work with a social worker who has an
understanding of the characteristics and gifts that someone
with ASD possesses and experience working with people with
ASDs.
The social worker can work with the child or youth in
processing friendship and relationships concerns, difficulties
with social skills, mood and anxiety, and provide help in
various life transitions and tasks (such as leaving high school,
looking for work, developing intimate relationships, etc).

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How is counselling helpful for a child with
ASD?
Children with ASDs may face challenges specific to home life,
school life or participation in the community. Help with family
issues may include talking about family conflict, negotiation
and communication, an impending divorce or separation of
parents, or the loss of a loved one.
With respect to school, it is can be helpful for a child with ASD
to see a social worker to discuss peer interaction, stresses
related to academic performance, changes in schools or
classrooms, classroom placement, and behavior in the school
setting.
Social worker will also communicate with parents or school
personnel to get their perspectives on the functioning of the
child in these contexts. As with other children, they will also
benefit from counselling if they have experienced or
witnessed abuse or trauma.

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What are some signs that a child could benefit
from seeing a social worker ?
Children and youth with ASD experience challenges
beyond those that are typical for other children.
They are at increased risk for bullying, increased anxiety,
or feelings of decreased self-esteem or sadness.
They may recognize that they are different than their
peers or express that they want to harm themselves or
others.
Counselling can provide a safe environment for a child to
process some of their observations, concerns and
worries.
A social worker can also work with a child to develop
goals and strategies for addressing these problem areas.

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Can a child of any age benefit from seeing a
social worker?
There is no precise age to determine whether a child could
benefit from counselling.
For counselling to be beneficial, he or she has must have
some functional communication and be able to interact in a
productive way with a professional.
Young children often do best with experiential types of
therapy such as play therapy or art therapy. Younger children
(and some older ones) may have difficulty processing difficult
emotions or attending for a longer period of time.
Sessions may therefore need to be more frequent and shorter
in length, when possible. Teens or even pre-teens may
benefit from “talk therapy” with structure to the sessions
facilitated by the social worker.
These sessions may be complimented with joint sessions
including parents and siblings.

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Is it helpful for parents of children with ASD to see
a social worker?
Parents and other family members of children with ASD
can benefit from seeing a social worker.
A social worker can work with a parent individually,
provide couple counselling or family counselling.
The counselling can focus on a number of areas
including the adaptation to the child’s diagnosis,
processing feelings about the diagnosis, providing
guidance and support in addressing concerns, or helping
during times of transitions.
To facilitate this, the social worker will develop goals in
collaboration with the family.

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Can a social worker work with other professionals
in supporting my child, such as an occupational
therapist, or an ABA therapist?
A social worker can be an important part to any team in
supporting your child.
Social workers are concerned with the various systems that
individuals come into contact with, and therefore value
collaboration with other professionals to ensure treatment
goals are consistent.
Social workers are also trained to help people access
resources and will be aware of suitable sources of support for
the family.
Social workers often take a “case management” role in
ensuring that members on the professional team are
communicating with each other and have a consistent
perception of the family’s strengths and needs and a
collaborative plan to help the child and family accomplish their
goals.

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What questions should I ask a social worker when
I contact them to provide service to myself or my
child?
You should ask a social worker if they have had
previous experience in supporting individuals
with ASDs and their families, if they are a
“Registered Social Worker”, their method of
working with a client, their proposed length of
involvement, means of assessment and
treatment, how communication will occur with
parents or others who are involved, and
methods of billing and payment.

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Can a social worker diagnose ASD? Can a social
worker make a diagnosis that other professionals
cannot?
A social worker cannot diagnose Autism
Spectrum Disorder-only a medical
doctor/psychiatrist or a psychologist can make
this diagnosis.
They can however assess for areas of concerns
and strengths, and develop recommendations
based on their assessment.

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Should a social worker provide written
documentation of the assessment or treatment
they provide?
A social worker is required to keep records
about sessions with clients and some provide
written assessments and reports about work
done with clients.
If this is something you are interested in or
require you should speak about this with your
social worker.
Additional fees will be applied for the time taken
to write reports.

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What are different types of therapy a social
worker would provide to a child with ASD? Are
some therapies proven to help more than others?
Social workers draw from a variety of therapeutic
modalities.
Some work mainly from one or two theories (for
example, narrative therapy or solution focused
therapy), while others take a more eclectic approach
and integrate a number of therapies based on client
needs and presentation.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has strong
evidence in the treatment of anxiety disorders and
depression in children and youth, and there is
promising research for the effectiveness in children
and youth with ASD.

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Are there an expected number of therapy sessions
for children with ASD? For our family?
The length of time that you are involved with a social
worker depends on the nature of the problem that they
are addressing, their model of intervention, the costs
involved for a family, and demands of for the social
worker to see other families.
Serial involvement with a social worker is helpful in
which the social worker sees the child for a period of
time, closes the file when the problem is resolved, and
reopens the file if there are new challenges for the child
or family at a later time.

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Will a social worker see a child in their office, in
our home, or in the community?
Most social workers see clients within an office
setting as it is private and safe.
Some social workers can be flexible and meet
clients in the community, such as at a client’s
home.
This is often either to observe a client in a
natural setting, or as an initial step to help clients
transition to the office setting.

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Will a social worker be able to give information
about the therapy sessions (s)he has with my 16
year old son/daughter?
Content from sessions with a 16 year old is
confidential and the social worker must seek the
youth’s consent to share information with
another individual.
The exceptions to this rule are if the client is an
imminent danger to themselves or to others.

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How much should I expect to pay for the services
of a social worker? Is there funding available to
pay for social work services?
Social workers generally have a sliding scale
and their fee depends on their experience,
academic qualifications and the nature/purpose
of the involvement.
Fees for social workers in Ontario range from
$100.00 per hour to $150.00 per hour.

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School Social Worker Role & ASD (1)
The literature that addresses the social workers’ roles
discuss the position from an ecological perspective
including collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team,
involvement in the assessment process, supporting and
engaging family members, providing support to the
school staff and advocating for policy changes.
(Dababnah et al., 2010)
School social workers serve as case managers for
children with ASD by collaborating with parents,
teachers, support staff, school psychologists and other
outside support professionals.
(Comegys & Guggemos, 2014)

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School Social Worker Role & ASD (2)
Social workers can provide parents with support relating
to emotional stress as well as resources to benefit the
child with ASD as well as the family. A holistic approach
can be utilized by school social workers in supporting the
family system.
Social workers are able to provide the parents with
education about the diagnosis, assessment and
treatment options, support processing how the parent
feels about the diagnosis and other children, consult with
other providers involved for care coordination, as well as
collaborate in a plan to assist the child with ASD meet
his or her educational goals (Autism Ontario, 2011).

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School Social Worker Role & ASD (3)
Children with ASD are faced with several challenges in
all environments: home, school and community.
In addition to direct service with ASD children, school
social workers should provide support to other members
of the child’s ecosystem including parents, teachers and
classmates.
Social workers have the ability to assist families with
education on ASD, processing family conflicts,
negotiation and communication, household changes
such as a divorce, separation or loss of a loved one
(Autism Ontario).
VanBergeijk and Shtayermman (2005) recommend
school social workers create psycho-educational support
groups for parents.

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Conclusions
ASD are common (more than 1%).
There are many contributions of social work research to
knowledge about and treatment for ASD.
Although mechanisms and solutions are currently unclear,
much of the research conducted to date emphasizes that
people on the ASD experience a great deal of social and
economic injustice throughout their lives.
Social workers are both equipped and professionally mandated
to engage in research and practice that will promote full and
meaningful inclusion in society, as well as social and economic
justice, for individuals on the autism spectrum.
The unifying goals for the profession have the power to use the
social work profession’s unique perspectives and
methodologies to reduce disparities and injustice for people on
the ASD and their families.

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Call for papers
https://jrtdd.com
March 31st, 2019

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+ 389-2-3116-520 (234) & + 389-78-346-565
+ 389-2-3118-143
president@mssa.org.mk
http://www.mssa.org.mk
Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism
@AutismMacedonia
Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism
THANK YOU!