Autism: Working with families

Abstract

Within the context of social work practice this paper examines the extreme difficulties parents can experience with their children with autism. It presents case examples of the common and devastating ways in which parents become aware that their child has a developmental disorder and describes the difficulties many experience in accessing professional diagnoses and support. The paper also describes the common forms of challenging behaviour presented by children with autism about which parents may turn to social workers and concludes with a discussion of the value to social work development this particular client population provides.