Clinical Social Work Practice
Clinical social work practice involves a systematic process and activity that is designed to assess client situations and help clients achieve agreed upon goals to promote optimal health and well being.
The social worker who works with children and adults who have a developmental disability and their families must have knowledge of:
- normal biological, psychological and social development throughout the life cycle and the needs of persons with developmental disabilities throughout their life cycle
- the incidence, prevalence, etiology, symptomatology, characteristics and prognosis for a broad range of disabilities
- the concept of normalization that stresses the importance of using typical and normal methods to establish valued outcomes for people with developmental disabilities
- medical advances, federal policy, ethical issues, and the latest social work practices when working with individuals who have a disability
- the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act and their legal mandates as they relate to special education programs and the rights of people with disabilities
- federal, state, and local programs that have been developed for people with developmental disabilities including eligibility criteria and how to access these services
- the role that diversity in ethnicity, culture, or socioeconomic status may play in determining appropriate assessment strategies
...as well as:
- advanced skill in conducting assessments and/or evaluations and developing interventions using accepted standards of care
- understanding of the family as the basic unit of care, including health care and of the importance of collaborating with them in health care planning and service delivery
Center on Human Development and Disability,
Clinical Training Unit, University of Washington,
Box 357920, Seattle, WA 98195-7920 lend@uw.edu