Australian Social Workers the Objective

Australian Social Workers

The objective of this work is to research and examine service provision to Aboriginal children with intellectuality disability, possibly a more culturally-appropriate service and specifically "Early Intervention" or children under the age of six years old. This work will examine the department of human services for information as well as the Aboriginal community co-op that provides services. This work will identify a problem which suggests a gap in service provision and will then develop a proposal for a needs assessment. How the problem will be addressed will be examined in relation to changes needed in existing services or the development of new services.

Social work in Australia, specifically in relation to intellectually disabled children under the age of six years old is an area of services provision that yet has to achieve its maximum potential in terms of service provision and delivery to intellectually disabled children in this age grouping. Furthermore, there are clearly defined gaps in service provision in the social work sector of Australia specifically identified are provisions of service to the family members or carers of the intellectually disabled child under the age of six years old.

I. IDENTIFICATION OF STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholders are the children in need of the services provision, the parents and families of the intellectually disabled children, the schools, the community and the country of Australia at large.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

One type of intellectual disability is related in the work entitled: "The Too-Hard Basket: Education for People who are Deafblind." The authors, Bidenko and James states that there are more than "70 known causes of deafblindness, each cause brining a unique set of needs for the individual." (1999) Unfortunately, it is also related that the provision of "Education of children who are congenitally deafblind in Australia, can over the past 2 or 3 decades, be compared with that prior to 1750, of people who were deaf." (Bidenko & James, 1999) Another problem that is noted in the country of Australia is the fact that "Approximately one in four parents were informed of their child's diagnosis by the time their child was three years old. Half the parents had been informed by the time their child was four and a half. However, approximately one in four parents were not informed until their child was over seven years old." (Bidenko & James, 1999) The problem with late diagnosis is that "children who received a diagnosis at a later age were more likely to receive a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome."

In the work entitled: "Trained Volunteers for Families Coping with a Child with a Life-Limiting Condition" the author states that: "One hundred and seven families with a child diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, from all over Queensland (Australia), were surveyed on their need for a trained volunteer. Their comments provide important insights into an area which has not previously been researched or documented. In summary, their responses indicate that many families have only minimal or no support, and are coping with extraordinary physical, emotional and social demands from the child's condition and treatment." (2001) Participants in the study of McGrath all responded positively to trained volunteers making provision of assistance through activities that "range from practical assistance such as baby-sitting and help with household chores and errands to emotional support. (2001)

According to the report entitled: "The Health and Social Care Needs of Families and/or Carers Supporting a Child with Autistic Spectrum Disorders": "Almost all carers identified areas of unmet needs. The most common of these were: help with care during school holidays; respite care so that the carer could do things that they enjoyed. Grater levels of unmet needs were reported by parents whose house was considered unsuitable, whose child was reported to show more severe emotional distress and showed greater delays in the areas of language development and socialization." (Bromley, et al., 2002) Bromley et al. states that the findings of the study "have clear implications for the ways in which health, education and social services....should be providing support to children...and their families." (2002) Stated is that: "On a more practical level, these findings indicate a range of service activities that may be particularly helpful for children and their families which include: (1) Increasing access to and uptake of a range of options for respite care; (2) Increasing the availability of practical support during school holidays; (3) Providing educational and therapeutic environments that reflect the specific needs of children with ASD (e.g., sensory sensitivities); (4) Increasing access to and uptake of effective and practical advice to families on, among other things, managing difficult behavior; and (5) Increasing the availability of evidence-based therapeutic approaches to stress management to the primary carers of children with ASD. (Bromley, et al., 2001) The following table labeled Figure 1 shows the 'unmet' needs of intellectually disabled children and their families as stated in the findings of the study of Bromley et al. (2001)