Organizational assessment of the Society for Treatment of Autism

Organizational Assessment

What follows in this report is an organizational assessment of an organization known as Society for Treatment of Autism. This assessment is broken into three major segments. The first segment is an organizational overview. The second segment is a comparison of the agency's words and mission to the empowerment model. Finally, there is an executive summary of the positive and negative implications for client and staff members of the organization.

Organizational Overview

The organization in question, as noted in the introduction, is the Society for Treatment of Autism. They are a member of the Autism Treatment Services of Canada and they are a dispenser of comprehensive treatments on a charitable basis and they get referrals via any number of methods and they take them all regardless of the source provided there is a need involved. All applicants are screened to ensure that they are appropriate for one or more of the programs that the charity offers. Per the textbook for the class, this organization is most certainly based on the human relations approach to organizations. Work is indeed a group activity and there is a substantial amount of group collaboration during the completion of work, among other examples in the textbook (STA, 2012).

Per the PowerPoint slides, they also probably operate under a traditional role of managers, staff and service users being the upward to downward path. The reason for this is that even a charity has to have a chain of command so that resources are used efficiently and there is some command and control within a person (or small group of people) that have the skill sets and the knowledge to make the right decisions. Per the structure listed for STA, it clear that there is a chain of command and duties are delegated to the different higher-end managers of the organization. For example, the executive director does the organization and planning, business concern handling, donations, the media and service clubs (STA, 2012).

Positive/Negative Implications for Clients & Staff

The author of this assessment has a decent amount of feedback to offer for positive and negative implications. Clearly, it's a positive that the managers, the staff and the employees all work in concert as it relates to drafting and crafting treatment plans and the staff/clients are intimately involved as the treatment plan is being executed. However, the news relating to this is not always going to be good and there are a number of reasons for that.

First, managing an autism-stricken child is a 24/7 proposition. It is not something that can be simply dropped when the child goes home for the weekend or the evening. It is imperative that the parent not rely too heavily on the treatment plans as being the sole source of treatment because the treatments need to be reinforced and consistent with home life and if the parent just checks out, it will slow down the child's progress, if not cause them to regress. It is akin to a person who acts all high and mighty during church service and then acts completely different when they are not in the sanctuary. This is not an entirely analogous sort of ideal, but one probably gets the point that the author is making here.

Second, some parents are given some rather bad information relating to diseases and disorders. For example, it is a common urban legend (and never proven) that vaccines cause autism and not giving a child (autistic or not) a vaccine can be dangerous to deadly. This sort of ignorance can manifest itself in other ways, including parents not going with the professionals as to what treatment is necessary and why. It is true that the parents have much more exposure to the children and how they act, but professionals that have fully analyzed and assessed what is going on will probably have a stronger grasp of what is truly happening than the parent and the parent should not sabotage or inhibit a treatment plan (on site or at home) just because they think the doctor or staff member is wrong.

Another potential negative implication is tight resources and money for the organization, especially during economically tough times. This can put a strain on parents who have to be turned away and/or cannot be given the treatment depth and breadth options for their children that they could or should be given under normal circumstances. Also, it can be a strain on the front-line staff to have to operate with less than optimal resources and perhaps not being able to care enough for accepted clients or to be able to accept all the clients that could or should be would probably present a problem to the employees.

A last negative implication that should be noted is that society takes a fairly ignorant and/or punitive view of autistic children and this is also true for other variants of autism such as Asperger's and the like. Many assume these children to be dumb and/or truly mentally disabled on par with brain-damaged people and that is simply not the case. That line of thought is not acceptable in any similar situation but it's exceedingly cruel to pigeon-hole autistic kids. Down Syndrome children have it even worse, at times. It is important and key for the STA and similar agencies and advocates to inform the public and openly condemn people when they speak out of line and say ignorant and damaging things. This is especially true of people in positions of power and prestige such as business leaders and politicians.

As for a few positive implications, the camaraderie and common purpose of all of the people involved, the clients and parents in particular, is a huge net positive to the organization and the entire situation. For parents of autistic children and the children themselves to be supported when these people would otherwise fall through the cracks of the social safety net in Canada is heart-lifting and positive. Again, the resources can be scarce and stretched at times, but the people doing the work know that going in and they are going to give much more than they get if they have to resort to such tactics. Any shortages in care and quality are going to be because of lack of money/resources and not because they do not care, and most parents will probably be understanding of that given the circumstances.

Another positive is that both the parents and the children with autism are empowered as part of the process. The autistic kids get the treatment and tools they need and the parents are equally empowered through what they learn about what they can do for their child to help them adapt and learn. On a related positive note, the people exposed to that child and that family outside of the STA envelope will also be educated and informed via their exposure to that child and the knowledge and good will that the STA is bestowing to them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that the Society for Treatment of Autism has a sound business model and it is also empowering. It would be best (in theory) to offer command/control and a seat at the table for parents/clients, but that would perhaps be ultimately counter-productive given the medical and technical nature of the work being done. As such, the still-high level involvement that the parents do have is much more than would be experienced in other situations (including many that are not charitably given) and this is to the STA's credit, for sure.