Introduction

This tool has been designed to help you use the Capabilities Statement for autistic adults to critically reflect upon your practice.

It can be used in one-to-one supervision, with a peer or as part of group supervision and in a social care or multi-professional team or setting.

Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

Engaging with this tool and using the questions to capture your reflections can be used to provide evidence in relation to Standards 4.1- 4.8  Maintaining my Continuous Professional Development of the regulatory Professional standards for social workers set by Social Work England

How to use the tool

Choose one or more of the key messages from the Capabilities Statement for social work with autistic adults which are set out below using the three super-domains from the Professional Capabilities framework (PCF) Purpose, Practice, Impact as headings.

Consider the questions below each key message to explore and critically reflect on practice in the context of the Capabilities Statement.  

The Reflective tool 

Purpose: This section of the Professional Capabilities Framework relates to why we do what we do as social workers, our values and ethics and how we approach our work.’ It includes the domains: 2 – Values and Ethics; 3 – Diversity and Equality; 4 – Rights, Justice and Economic Wellbeing.

Key messages from the Capabilities Statement for social work with autistic adults describes purpose in the following ways:

  • The foundational values of social work with autistic adults are recognising, appreciating, and promoting the values of neurodiversity.
  • The purpose of social work is supporting autistic adults to identify their needs and communicate how autism distinctly impacts on their everyday lives.
  • Understand the impairments that people can experience from the impact of autism and work with them to address these.

Points and questions to aid critical reflection:

  • Think of a situation from your practice when you feel you have demonstrated good social work practice as described in the key message
  • Describe the situation to your supervisor or peers
  • Reflect on what you did, your use of self and the approach (s) you took, theories and/or methods you used
  • Explore your feelings in relation to the situation
  • Consider your own values and the impact they had
  • What went well from your perspective?
  • What was the feedback from the person and/or their family?
  • What were the views of other professionals/organisations?
  • What were the challenges?
  • What have you learnt, with particular reference to structural inequality and discrimination issues?
  • How will this influence your practice in the future?

Practice

Practice: This part of the Capabilities Statement focuses on the knowledge and skills required for effective social work practice with autistic adults. It is based on the Practice ‘super -domain’ of PCF - ‘What we do – the specific skills, knowledge, interventions and critical analytic abilities we develop to act and do social work’. (BASW, 2018; p. 4). (NICE) includes the PCF domains: 5 – Knowledge; 6 – Critical Reflection and Analysis; 7 – Skills and Interventions. It should be cross-referenced with the Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services (Department of Health (DoH), 2015).

Key messages from the Capabilities Statement for social work with autistic adults describes practice in the following ways:

Social workers can co-create positive changes with autistic adults through relationship-based practice.  

Social workers should focus on peoples’ needs and strengths, and not diagnosis alone.

An important social work aim should be preventative work. Regular health assessments can ensure the identification of co-occurring health conditions, stopping worsening physical and mental health of autistic adults. 

Co-producing plans to manage crisis can prevent involvement of coercive psychiatric treatments.

Points and questions to aid critical reflection:

  • Think of a situation from your practice when you feel you have demonstrated good social work practice as described in the key message
  • Describe the situation to your supervisor or peers
  • Reflect on what you did, your use of self and the approach (s) you took, theories and/or methods you used
  • Explore your feelings in relation to the situation
  • Consider your own values and the impact they had
  • What went well from your perspective?
  • What was the feedback from the person and/or their family?
  • What were the views of other professionals/organisations?
  • What were the challenges?
  • What have you learnt, with particular reference to structural inequality and discrimination issues?
  • How will this influence your practice in the future?

Impact

Impact: This section of the Capabilities Statement explains the difference that social workers can make to autistic adults through their knowledge, skills, and values, based on the Impact ‘super domain’ of the PCF - ‘How we make a difference and how we know we make a difference. Our ability to bring about change through our practice, through our leadership, through our understanding, our context, and through our overall professionalism.’ (BASW, 2018; p.4). The Impact ‘super domain’ consists of the PCF domains 1 – Professionalism, 8 – Contexts and Organisations, and 9 – Professional Leadership.

Key messages from the Capabilities Statement for social work with autistic adults describes impact in the following way:

Professionalism: providing leadership in multi-agency work to ensure that care is managed in the community and not hospitals; protect the human rights of autistic adults

Preventing and de-escalating crises and behaviour that challenges

Be guided by the principle of prevention

Points and Questions to aid critical reflection:

  • Think of a situation from your practice when you feel you have demonstrated good social work practice as described in the key message
  • Describe the situation to your supervisor or peers
  • Reflect on what you did, your use of self and the approach (s) you took, theories and/or methods you used
  • Explore your feelings in relation to the situation
  • Consider your own values and the impact they had
  • What went well from your perspective?
  • What was the feedback from the person and/or their family?
  • What were the views of other professionals/organisations?
  • What were the challenges?
  • What have you learnt, with particular reference to structural inequality and discrimination issues?
  • How will this influence your practice in the future?