What I want my social worker to know or do
Knowledge
As my social worker, I want you to:
- Find out about how best to communicate with me from the start
- Understand that all behaviour is communication
- Be friendly, kind and get to know me
- Make arrangements for visits that suit me
- Provide information in ways that I can understand about money, housing, support and other things that I may need to make decisions about
- Let me know what choices I have
- Let me ask questions
- Give me more time to make a decision
- Think about how you give me difficult information
- Be flexible
- Understand that changes and timekeeping can make me anxious
- Appreciate things like my environment and how many demands are placed on me affect how well and safe I feel.
Skills and intervention
As my social worker, I want you to:
- Use simple language
- Get to know me
- Prepare for visits
- Use a one-page profile so I can get to know you
- Provide opportunities for me to show you what I am good at and what I enjoy doing
- Think about using activities to help me communicate
- Take the time to visit me, listen to me and understand how I express my feelings
- Accept my rituals and routines
- Stick to what we’ve agreed and prepare me for any changes
- Help me to make my own decisions - bring information that I can understand with you
- Be aware that I may agree with you just to get rid of your demands
- Use your skills and expertise to help me.
How you Treat me (Values, ethics and personal behaviours)
- As my social worker, I want you to:
- Ask me, don’t tell me
- Focus on what I can do
- Listen- don’t judge
- Treat me as an equal
- Recognise I am an expert in my own life
- Treat me as an individual
- Support me to make choices for myself
- Show me I can trust you
- Go the extra mile.
What I don’t want my social worker to do
Personal behaviours (How you treat me)
- As my social worker, I don’t want you to:
- Waste my time
- Be late, not turn up or cancel appointments with me
- Come to see me with pre-conceived ideas
- Try and fit me into your agenda
- Think you know what is best for me
- Expect me to understand you
- Assume I am ok, ask me
- Say one thing but do another
- Make promises you can’t keep
- Ignore me
- Make decisions for me
- Speak for me about what I would like
- Focus on my diagnosis only
- Judge me
- Ignore my behaviour or feelings.
Knowledge
As my social worker, I don’t want you to:
- Turn up to see me unannounced
- Automatically contact me by phone
- Expect me to communicate verbally with you
- Forget about the importance of environment and sensory needs
- Expect to visit me or see me in a noisy place
- Forget to bring information or give me the wrong information
- Turn up knowing nothing about me
- Patronise me or talk to others about me first
- Keep changing social workers – I want someone that knows me for a long time
Skills and intervention
As my social worker, I don’t want you to:
- Don’t make a decision about me that I can make
- Decide what is best for me before you visit me
- Be shocked by my behaviour – all behaviour is communication
- Just get your laptop when you visit me, have a conversation first
- Rush your visit or make me feel like I am wasting your time, or that I am not important to you
- Look at your watch all the time or keep checking your mobile phone.