ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN ASSISTING

BME FAMILIES WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN

HS390 BA SOCIAL WORK HONOURS
CLARA MHLABA
1905513
 Presentation Outline

❏Introduction
❏Research Objectives
❏Study Motivation
❏Study Methodology
❏Study Findings
 Introduction
❏one in every 160 children has
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
❏autistic people can have co-existing
conditions including Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
epilepsy, and mental health issues
❏autistic children from BME families
often have challenges accessing
education, social services, and
support
 Research Objectives
❏To explore existing literature to identify the gap in
knowledge about the role of social workers in assisting
BME families with autistic children
❏To explore the barriers and opportunities that social
workers encounter in their work with BME families
with autistic children
❏To make recommendations about social workers’ role
in working with BME families with autistic children
 Why BME families?

❏BME populations in the United Kingdom

(UK) live in poverty (Butler, 2020) and face
structural racism in accessing social
services.
❏there is a lack of knowledge about BME
families with autistic children
❏ASD among Black pupils was mediated by
social disadvantage (Roman-Urrestarazu,
2020)
 Study Motivation
❏Personal motivation
❏Professional motivation
 Study Methodology
❏Literature based study of a qualitative, narrative nature
❏non-contact research method (Lin, 2009) or secondary
research
❏The narrative design is a qualitative interpretation of
previous knowledge (Sylvester, Tate & Johnstone, 2013)
❏Purpose: provides a comprehensive background which
will highlight the current knowledge around the topic
and the significance of the present study
 Study Methodology
❏literature search conducted between March-April 2021
❏Keywords: “social workers AND autism”, “role of social
workers in autism”, “social workers AND families with
autism”
❏No time frame was selected during the search to allow for
a historical analysis of the role of social workers in working
with BME families in the UK
❏A total of 10 articles were chosen for the narrative analysis.
Author (s) and Year Title Methodology Contribution to the
study
Ng, R. (2019) "Autism doesn't come with a Semi-structured interviews The study focused on the
manual, it comes with a parent were experiences of BME parents
who never gives up": A Family carried out with ten BME with autistic children.
Resilience Perspective to parents in London.
Exploring the Views of Black
and Minority Ethnic Parents of
Children with Autism
Corbett, C., & Perepa, P. Missing out. Autism, Education In 2006 the NAS carried out a Social workers have a role to
(2007). and Ethnicity. large survey on autism and play in facilitating access to
education in the UK as part of educational facilities for
the make school make sense autistic children.
campaign. Corbett & Perepa
(2007) analysed the findings
on BME families from the
Nair, S. (2015) A study of the experiences and survey in their
A qualitative paper.
case study The study focused on the
perceptions of parents of approach was adopted using experiences and views of BME
Black and Minority in-depth parents with autistic children.
Ethnic pupils statemented with interviews with 11 participants
autism in relation to the from one selected local
educational support authority in Wales.
provided for their children and
for themselves.
 Author (s) and Title Methodology Contribution to the
Year study
Kent, W. (2020) “Who supports the Semi-structured The study focused on the
families of black and interviews with 20 experiences of both parents
minority ethnic children parents and 10 and social work professionals.
with life-limiting professionals including
conditions? 5 social workers
Adzajlik, B. (2022) Mental Health and A literature search was The study included a sample
Wellbeing of Black and undertaken seeking of BME carers and parents
Minority Ethnic both published and who had to care for autistic
Children and Young grey literature on the children
People in Glasgow mental health of BME
children and young
people, including
support for family
members.
Slade, G.(2014). Diverse perspectives: The 13 focus groups with 130 The study focused on the needs
challenges for families participants, including and experiences of
affected by autism from BME parents, siblings children with autism and their
black, Asian and Minority and carers of children families and carers.
Ethnic communities. with
autism.
 Author (s) and Title Methodology Contribution to
Year the study
Pinney, A. (2007). A better start: children and An evaluation report of the It provided some
families with special needs Sure Start Local information on the kinds of
and disabilities in Sure Start Programmes (SSLPs) support needed by autistic
local programmes. families.
Nottingham: DfES.

Roy, A. N., Buffin, J., Li, O.
M., & Virgo, L. (2009)
Is Information Enough?
Exploring the information
priorities of families of
people with a learning
disability from Pakistani
communities.
Focus group discussions
were conducted with
Pakistani
family carers on issues
relating to
information and other
needs.
The study provides
information about the
usefulness of providing
information services for a
BME population which
included families with
autistic children

Fox, F., Aabe, N., Turner, K., “It was like walking without
Redwood, S., & Rai, D. (2017). knowing where I was going”:
A Qualitative Study of Autism
in a UK Somali Migrant
Community.
15 in-depth interviews with
parents affected by autism,
which included being a
parent to an autistic child
The study assessed the
needs of families affected by
autism and how health,
education and social care
services can support them.
The analysis focused on the
 Study Findings
Need for social work services for BME families with autistic children

❏families of a child with autism often face obstacles in accessing timely and

effective services that meet their needs, including physical, psychological, and

social supports

❏they also lack financial needs and connection to community resources or

supports (Chiri & Warfield, 2012; Morris, et al., 2018).

 Study Findings
Findings from the narrative review

❏An autism diagnosis has a negative impact on the parents and the whole family of the diagnosed

child

❏mothers of children with autism referred to the moment of diagnosis as “a crisis event”, which a

family never forgets.

❏parents also reported having challenges with the diagnosis, including delays and getting the wrong

diagnosis (Slade, 2014)

❏delays were often caused by schools not identifying the signs of autism and labelling it as a

behavioural issue.
 Study Findings
Language issues and understanding about autism

❏BME children often use English as a second language and schools may mistake their

speech difficulties as being caused by that and delay an autism diagnosis

❏lack of understanding about autism, e.g. Somali parents in the study by Fox et al.,

(2017) reported that after hearing that their child had autism, they did not even

know what the word autism meant.

❏no word for autism in their own language

❏leading to confusion and feelings of shock

 Study Findings
Struggle to accept ASD diagnosis

❏some East Asian populations in Glasgow were found to struggle to accept the long-term nature

of ASD, and always referred to “in the future when they’re normal”

❏these families viewed their child as experiencing a condition that could be treated and that they

could function normally in future.

❏Pakistani families blamed immunisation or themselves for the diagnosis (Roy et al., 2009)

❏e.g. some mothers struggled with guilt and blamed themselves for having done something

during their pregnancy that might have caused their child to have autism

❏ cultural perception that autism is based on bad parenting

 Study Findings
Other issues that require social support

❏marital problems due to ASD diagnosis

❏financial struggles

❏the burden of practical and emotional care for autism often fell more heavily on

mothers (Slade, 2014)

❏emotional stress due to behaviour of autistic child

❏discrimination and stigma in the community

 Study Findings
Role of social workers

❏Family support services

❏Information about services

❏Facilitating access to educational support

❏Psychosocial support

❏Advocacy

❏Culturally appropriate services

 Recommendations
❏to improve the cultural understanding of BME families within the
social services sector
❏to improve social workers’ understanding of the unique issues faced
by BME learners in the education sector. This can be done through
workshops to capacitate social workers who work with BME families.
❏more family programs such as the Sure Start Programs which
focused on ensuring families were supported with information about
available support service
❏need for advocacy services also calls for social workers with
advocacy experience and training to work more with BME families to
provide support
 References

❏Chiri, G., & Warfield, M. E. (2012). Unmet need and problems accessing core health care services for
children with autism spectrum disorder. Maternal and child health journal, 16(5), 1081-1091.
❏Kent, W. (2020). Who supports the families of black and minority ethnic children with life-limiting
conditions?. Available from www.orca.cardiff.ac.uk. Accessed 18 March, 2022.
❏Lin, G. (2009). Higher Education Research Methodology-Literature Method. International Education Studies,
2(4), 179-181.
❏Roman-Urrestarazu, A., van Kessel, R., Allison, C., Matthews, F. E., Brayne, C., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2021).
Association of race/ethnicity and social disadvantage with autism prevalence in 7 million school children in
England. JAMA Paediatrics, 175(6), e210054-e210054.
❏Slade, G. (2014). Diverse perspectives: The challenges for families affected by autism from black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic communities. London: The National Autistic Society.