UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING THE PARENT-SOCIAL WORKER RELATIONSHIP IN THE DISABILITY SECTOR

Abstract

Raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an arduous and challenging experience. Children with ASD require heavy support, and their parents often have to devote the majority of their time and resources to take care of their child. As a result, parents of children with ASD often exhibit higher parenting stress systems, and lower family functioning scores as compared to parents of neurotypical children. Studies have shown that strong parent-professional collaboration can positively impact parents’ psychological well-being, and also improve their child’s functioning and development. Therefore, this study aims to understand how parents and social workers define a strong collaborative relationship, and how social workers can build such relationships. Six social workers working in a special-education school in Singapore, and six parents with children in special-education schools in Singapore, were invited to share their opinions and experiences of parent-social worker collaboration. Interviews utilised semi-structured questions, and aspects of narrative interviewing to understand how social workers and parents understood and experienced positive and negative collaborative relationships. Findings suggest that (1) parents lack a sense of agency over the creation of collaborative relationships, in their lack of strategies when working with unmotivated social workers and their lack of knowledge over Singapore’s helping processes, (2) parents face heavy burdens in raising their child, therefore social workers need consider the importance of interpersonal bonds, and be cognisant that empowerment strategies may not always be positive for the family, and (3) organisational factors, such as strong communication with parents, play a large role in the formation of collaborative relationships. Thus, this study recommends that (1) social workers restore power imbalances by providing parents with greater knowledge and more decision-making power, (2) social workers consider intentionally befriending parents, and engaging them before problems occur, and (3) organisations consider training social workers to function as a bridge between parents and organisations.