Introduction
Human Service Practice with Children with Disabilities pays a lot of attention to working with kids who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes people to have trouble communicating and interacting with others, as well as limited, repeated patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Recent incidence studies show that ASD affects about 1 in 54 children in the United States. This makes it a common and serious disability for kids. ASD causes problems for kids that go beyond their immediate development. These problems affect their schooling, relationships with other kids, and general quality of life.
ASD can have a wide range of effects, from mild to serious, and can affect many areas of a child’s life. Children who have trouble with social skills, communication, or repetitive habits may find it harder to handle the challenges of daily life. Also, these problems often last into adolescence and life, which shows how important it is to have good Human Service Practices to help kids with ASD as they grow up.
Because Autism Spectrum Disorder has so many different aspects, it is important to look at it in the framework of Human Service Practice with Children with Disabilities. In addition to knowing the diagnostic factors, it is very important to know the specific needs, strengths, and differences of each child with ASD in order to make interventions that work. As the number of people with ASD grows, there is an urgent need for comprehensive and evidence-based methods in the field of Human Service Practice to improve the outcomes and well-being of children with ASD.
Inquiry Question Formulation:
Although Autism Spectrum Disorder and what it means for Human Service Work with Children with Disabilities are complicated, this literature review is guided by the following question:
“How do current research, theories, and best practices contribute to the effective provision of Human Services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and what gaps exist in the literature that warrant further investigation?”
The goal of this question is to look into what is already known about ASD and look at the strategies, interventions, and theoretical theories used in Human Service Practices. The review looks at the current body of literature to find gaps that might make interventions less successful or make it harder to meet the many needs of children with ASD. Through this investigation, the goal is to find useful information that can be used to improve Human Service Practices and make the world a better place for kids with autism spectrum disorder.
Literature Search
A planned method will be used to find all the literature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the setting of working as a human services professional with disabled children. A close study of peer-reviewed works will be carried out using academic databases like PubMed, PsycINFO, and JSTOR. The search will focus on new publications, making sure that the chosen pieces cover a wide range of topics related to ASD, such as but not limited to diagnostic methods, intervention strategies, and the social and emotional effects on kids.
For the literature search, the keywords will include “autism spectrum disorder,” “Human Service Practice,” and “Children with Disabilities.” Boolean operators will be used to narrow the search and find articles that give a full picture of the chosen childhood disability. The guidelines for inclusion will give more weight to studies that came out in the last five years to make sure that the information is still useful and up-to
Summary and Synthesis:
Examining about Human Service Practice with Children with Disabilities in the Literature gives us a more complete picture by combining different points of view. It is looked at how the human rights and social models of disability work together, questioning the common belief that one is better than the other. Lawson and Beckett (2020) say that these models can work well together when looking at the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities because they offer different but useful information that makes human service methods better. This means that practitioners need to understand how these models work together and how to use their synergies to provide better help.
In 2020, Adugna et al. did a scoping review that looked into the health problems that disabled children in Sub-Saharan Africa face. Stigma, poverty, bad policies, and healthcare centers that are hard to get to all become big problems. The effects for human services work are huge, so we need to take a broad approach. Supportive mental and social environments are emphasized as very important. Actions should be taken to get rid of shame, improve policies, and make sure that facilities are easily accessible.
In her 2019 study of the UN Convention’s concluding notes on inclusive education, Bronagh Byrne calls for a more refined approach. The focus is on a rights-based move from separate to inclusive settings, which means we need to have a deeper knowledge of inclusive education. This sounds like a call for people who work in human services to support and shape school transitions that are in line with human rights principles. This way, kids with complex disabilities can have their voices heard.
Interviews, expert comments, and survey data were used in the 2023 study by Klette-Bøhler et al. to look into the personal effects of COVID-19 measures on disabled children in Norway. The results show how important it is for human services to be able to change during situations so that disabled children who are facing new problems can still get the help they need.
Arfa et al. (2020) talk about the unique problems immigrant parents in Norway with disabled children face. They show that healthcare services for immigrant families are not always what they seem to be. This leads to a call for people who work in human services to be aware of and deal with culture and communication issues. This will help people work together to close gaps and make sure everyone has equal access to services.
A multidisciplinary approach is backed by Grigorenko et al.’s (2020) review of study trends on certain learning disabilities. It is important for brain neuroscience, health, education, and psychology to work together. This requires people who work in human services to work together from different fields to make sure that children with learning disabilities get the best possible prevention, monitoring, and care.
The FPG Child Development Institute report by Steinbrenner et al. lists methods for kids, teens, and young adults with autism that have been shown to work. It is emphasized that focused intervention practices work better than complete treatment models. This report is helpful for people who work in human services because it gives them evidence-based ways to make programs for people with autism more successful.
Putting all of these studies and papers together gives us a full picture of how Human Service Practice with Children with Disabilities is going right now. The main ideas stress the importance of using a multidisciplinary method, being aware of different cultures, and always changing based on new research results. Two important goals for improving human service practices in this important area are closing gaps and making everyone feel welcome.
Theories and Best Practices:
Theoretical Exploration:
The social model of disability and the human rights model are two of the most important ideas about disabilities in children. The social model, which comes from disability politics, says that disability is injustice that is made by society. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is one example of how the human rights approach has become important. It focuses on the rights of people with disabilities. The capability method and other psychological views can also help us understand what it’s like for kids with disabilities.
Best Practices for Helping People in Need:
The best ways to help people through human services involve a lot of different areas. The research shows how important it is to include children with disabilities in all aspects of schooling, remove barriers to health care, and use practices that have been shown to work. Byrne looked into how inclusive education is an important part of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The scoping study by Adugna et al. talks about what makes it hard to get health care and what makes it easier to get better services. Steinbrenner et al. explain how evidence-based methods can be used to make interventions work.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention:
Different situations and disabilities have different effects on how well solutions work. Lawson and Beckett talk about how the combination of the social and human rights models shows how these models help in human rights situations. The scoping study by Adugna et al. shows what makes it hard to get healthcare and what makes it easier to get it. It also shows how well healthcare interventions work. Steinbrenner et al.’s systematic review looks at evidence-based methods and gives a full picture of how they affect outcomes for people with autism.
Gap Identification:
Critical Analysis of Literature:
A close study of the research shows that there are some things we don’t fully understand about childhood problems. Even though the social and human rights models are important, we need to learn more about how disabilities are affected by things like race, culture, and socioeconomic background. According to Adugna et al.’s scoping study, there are barriers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This shows that more research is needed to create customized interventions for low-income areas.
Filling in these holes is very important for the progress of human service practices. It calls for a deeper understanding of what it’s like to have a disability, going beyond simple models to look at the specific problems that different groups of people face. To make interventions that are more targeted and sensitive to different cultures, it is important to fill in the gaps in studies on healthcare access, inclusive education, and evidence-based practices. Eventually, filling in these gaps helps make human services better for kids with disabilities that are inclusive and work well.
Conclusion
In summary, this task has looked into the complicated world of Human Service Practices for kids with disabilities. We have a better idea of the challenges and opportunities in this field after reading a number of scholarly articles.
The chosen childhood condition, which had educational, health care, and overall aspects, made for a rich tapestry to explore. The ideas behind it, especially the social model of disability and the human rights model, made it clear that we need to see disabilities as social constructions and fight for people’s rights. From a psychological point of view, like the capability method, we were able to better understand what it’s like for disabled children.
When we looked into the best ways to help people in need, we saw how important it is to include everyone in school, get rid of barriers to health care, and use evidence-based methods that are specifically designed to meet the needs of these kids. It turned out that these interventions were useful for improving the health and development of kids in a variety of situations.
But our critical review of the literature has shown that there are big gaps, especially when it comes to how disabilities affect each other and how context-specific treatments are needed, especially in low-income areas. Getting rid of these gaps is very important for the progress of making human service practices more inclusive and successful.
A call to action is the result of putting together ideas from different models, viewpoints, and interventions. We urge researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to add to the amount of knowledge that already exists. By filling in the gaps that have been found, using interventions that have been shown to work, and encouraging inclusion, we can move human service practices toward a more fair and helpful setting for kids with disabilities. This coordinated effort is meant to support these kids’ overall growth and well-being, which is in line with how human services are changing.
Work Cited
Lawson, Anna, and Angharad E. Beckett. “The social and human rights models of disability: towards a complementarity thesis.” The International Journal of Human Rights 25.2 (2021): 348-379.
Adugna, Molalign B., et al. “Barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for children with disabilities in low and middle income sub-Saharan African countries: a scoping review.” BMC health services research 20 (2020): 1-11.
Byrne, Bronagh. “How inclusive is the right to inclusive education? An assessment of the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities’ concluding observations.” International Journal of Inclusive Education 26.3 (2022): 301-318.
Klette-Bøhler, Kjetil, Dagmara Bossy, and Vyda Mamley Hervie. “How Did Children With Disabilities Experience Education and Social Welfare During Covid-19?.” Social Inclusion 11.1 (2023): 113-124.
Arfa, Shahrzad, et al. “Disabled and immigrant, a double minority challenge: a qualitative study about the experiences of immigrant parents of children with disabilities navigating health and rehabilitation services in Norway.” BMC health services research 20.1 (2020): 1-16.
Steinbrenner, Jessica R., et al. “Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults with Autism.” FPG child development institute (2020).
Grigorenko, Elena L., et al. “Understanding, educating, and supporting children with specific learning disabilities: 50 years of science and practice.” American Psychologist 75.1 (2020): 37.
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