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Available in Russia Shop from Russia to buy this item. Or, get it for Kobo Super Points! Many working-age people who develop vision problems fail to learn about available rehabilitation services from ophthalmologists or hospitals and as a result may give up their valued activities. Social workers can be advocates for their clients in rehabilitation agencies, can tell clients about guide dog schools, or convince apprehensive families that work, independent travel, and family life are still feasible.
Consonant with a strengths approach, they can focus attention on the talents and capacities that remain despite vision loss. Sometimes the person will not be able to fully return to prior employment or activities, but the social worker should refer a client to the tools and skills that will enable him or her to continue in the chosen and valued roles when possible. Blindness should not be assumed to prevent the safe conduct of other adult roles. In particular, social workers in the field of child-protective services should not presume that an infant or older child cannot be safely cared for by a parent or parents with visual impairment.
Child protective workers and parents with visual impairment can contact through the Looking Glass http: As with all child protection cases, decisions to remove a child should be made on a case-by-case basis after a careful and thorough assessment of the parents' parenting skills and supports. Older persons with impaired vision are generally new at dealing with sight loss, and may be experiencing other health problems as well Ainlay, They may experience difficulties attributable to lack of training in dealing with blindness or from other health problems, and not from blindness, itself.
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The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of provide for increased services for older people with visual impairments, and are intended to keep them active in their homes and communities by providing tools for daily living, travel, and communication. Social workers who see clients in senior citizen centers and nursing homes should be especially alert to the clients' deteriorating vision and should link their clients with the specialized services that will enable them to continue their activities. People with visual impairments have been in the social work profession for decades, and there are many instances of field placements and agency accommodations.
However, fieldwork sites and employing agencies sometimes still display stereotypes and fears about blindness Tannenbaum, Regardless of service setting, there are some common principles and concepts in working with individuals or groups where one or all clients have visual impairment or blindness. The principles and concepts listed below are synthesized from general practice principles for social work with people with disabilities Mackelprang and Salsgiver, ; Raske, ; Rothman, , and from disability etiquette guidelines for interactions with people with blindness or visual impairment Cohen, ; Federal Communication Commission, ; Wayne State University, A second practice principle is not to assume that the presence of severe visual impairment or blindness will preclude active engagement in life's usual activities—schooling, employment, intimate relationships, parenting, care and support of others, cooking and housecleaning, travel, sports, and other leisure activities.
Social work with clients who are blind or visually impaired should aim to facilitate engagement in these life activities and the development of environmental accommodations and personal skills that enable full participation and enjoyment. The third principle is to incorporate a strengths perspective, which empowers the client to act in his or her own behalf. Fourth, social workers should be knowledgeable about the range of special services and programs for persons with blindness or visual impairment, even while supporting independence and self-determination.
An important advocacy role for social workers is to be vigilant for discrimination and de facto exclusion in the delivery of services and by other organizations and businesses, and to help the client learn how to advocate against or challenge discrimination or exclusion when they occur.
The key elements of etiquette include not making assumptions in interpersonal interactions, but to be guided by the individual regarding whether help is required, and what kind of help. For example, if there are forms to fill out, clients should be asked what format and process they prefer. Especially for social work encounters, it is important to respect privacy and confidentiality. Two mistakes that agencies sometimes make are to ask family members to fill out a paper form for someone without sight, without first determining that it is acceptable to the client and an appropriate task for a family member, or to have a staff member fill out the paperwork by asking the client for the information in a very public location.
Other elements of etiquette involve identifying oneself and others present at the start of the encounter, and waiting for the client to indicate whether or not assistance navigating the office space is required. Another point of etiquette is to know how to direct or guide a person with limited or no sight to another location in a manner that does not violate personal space.
Finally, if people with and without sight are part of the social work encounter, social workers need to be alert to any tendency on their part or the part of other staff in the setting to address inquiries to the person with sight that properly should be addressed directly to the person who is blind or visually impaired. More specific information about disability etiquette for working with people who are blind or visually impaired can be found at the Web sites of the references named at the beginning of this section.
A key approach to working with people with blindness or visual impairment is to recognize that it is a social as well as an individual problem. Contact with active members of organizations of people with blindness or visual impairment, such as the National Federation of the Blind, the Blinded Veterans Association, and the American Council of the Blind, is indispensable in helping people new to visual impairment appreciate that Braille, cane or guide dog, recorded materials, live readers, adapted computers, and new ways of managing a home and work life can be as efficient as the ways that relied on sight.
Other individuals and advocacy organizations in the disability rights movement are also invaluable in providing allies to battle discrimination and exclusion when it occurs. For people with visual impairment or blindness there are options in the 21st century that did not exist in prior centuries. In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in employment and public life. Twenty-first century technology supports participation in work, family, recreation, cultural activities, and sports with ever greater ease.
Portable electronic equipment assists in orientation, travel, and the translation of visual text to accessible media. New assistive devices and medical procedures offer some people possibilities for increased usable vision. Nonetheless people who are blind or have visual impairment still report experiencing exclusion from work, housing, travel, and leisure activities. These actions include conscious exclusion from employment due to concerns about safety and liability; refusal to rent housing or seat in a restaurant or admit to community venues a person with a service dog; and de facto exclusion from the use of public transit or the Internet because appropriate accommodations are not in place.
The summaries of the discrimination complaints received and investigated by the U. Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the other federal agencies with enforcement responsibilities under the ADA indicate that discrimination in these areas still occurs links to the different agency reports are on the ADA Home Page, http: Issues of discrimination and barriers to accessing the latest services and technologies may be compounded for persons who also belong to racial, ethnic, or low-income groups who have historically experienced disadvantage and discrimination in the United States.
A related issue is the tendency to still use disability segregated programs and services, even when participation in mainstream programs can occur with or without accommodation. The rapid dissemination of new technology is another challenge because not all new technology is designed with universal access in mind. For example, new ovens and washing machines use touch screens for settings.
Transportation is another area of challenge because the sprawl of urban and suburban life has occurred without an equal commitment to the maintenance and extension of pubic transportation. The introduction of electric—gas hybrid automobiles presents a different transportation challenge because the silence of these vehicles poses a hazard to those who rely on their hearing to travel safely. The National Federation of Blind has brought this issue to the attention of the public and car manufacturers and there are hopes that a mutually satisfactory solution can be developed Flandez, As the 21st century unfolds, new technologies will continue to improve the quality of life and affect the manner in which people work and play in the United States and throughout the rest of the world.
Social workers can assume many roles as culturally competent services providers, program planners, and as allies in advocacy of those who have visual impairments or blindness so that the advantages of progress can be enjoyed by all. We thank Corinne Kirchner, A. Judith Chwalow, several field directors, and key informants who have visual impairments for helping us identify the resources and key issues presented in this entry.
Aging and new vision loss: Disruptions of the here and now. Journal of Social Issues , 48 1 , 79— American Foundation for the Blind. Key definitions of statistical terms. Retrieved February 1, , from http: American Printing House for the Blind. The history of the American Printing House for the Blind: Retrieved March 15, , from http: Americans with Disabilities Act of , PL Understanding and working with disability rights groups. Theoretical and clinical issues.
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Psychiatry, 48 1 , 1— Prevalence of concurrent hearing and visual impairment in US adults: What it is, what it does, and how to live with it. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 2, , from http: For these theorists, the problem is that medical professionals fail to distinguish between a person's illness and his or her disability. Disability as an identity.
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Closely related to the social model of disability - yet with a fundamental difference in emphasis - is the identity model or affirmation model of disability. This model shares the social model's understanding that the experience of disability is socially constructed, but differs to the extent that it 'claims disability as a positive identity' Brewer et al. Under the identity model, disability is a marker of membership in a minority identity, much like gender or race … Under an identity model, disability is primarily defined by a certain type of experience in the world - a social and political experience of the effects of a social system not designed with disabled people in mind … [ W ]hile the identity model owes much to the social model, it is less interested in the ways environments, policies, and institutions disable people, and more interested in forging a positive definition of disability identity based on experiences and circumstances that have created a recognizable minority group called 'people with disabilities'.
Swain and French An acknowledgement of the socially constructed dimension of disability, especially as articulated by the social model. Motivating PWDs to belong to a campaigning group, which aids in the development of a collective identity. The collective expression of 'frustration and anger'. A realisation that there is nothing wrong with PWDs embracing an identity as 'outsiders', but PWDs should have the right to be 'insiders' if they prefer.
Group identity has inspired many PWDs to endeavour for revolutionary 'visions of change, often under the flags of "civil rights" and "equal opportunities"'. As with the social model, the identity model is not without its critics. One of the major points of critique against the approach is that it seems to compel individuals to identify with a specific group culture Fraser A further point of critique is that the identity model negates the struggle for redistribution, failing to pay sufficient attention to the reality of economic inequality faced by PWDs Fraser The human rights model: Disability as a human rights issue.
Models of disability: A brief overview
Another model that bears close affinity to the social model of disability is the human rights model of disability. Although some researchers treat the social model and the human rights model as virtually synonymous, Degener highlights a number of important differences between them. Firstly, while the social model helps people to understand the underlying social factors that shape our understanding of disability, the human rights model moves beyond explanation, offering a theoretical framework for disability policy that emphasises the human dignity of PWDs Degener Secondly, the human rights model incorporates both first and second generation human rights, in the sense that 'it encompasses both sets of human rights, civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural rights' Degener Thirdly, while the social model mostly fails to appreciate the reality of pain and suffering in the lives of some PWDs, the human rights model respects the fact that some PWDs are indeed confronted by such challenging life situations and argues that such factors should be taken into account in the development of relevant social justice theories Degener Fourthly, while the social model does not pay adequate attention to the importance of identity politics, the human rights model 'offers room for minority and cultural identification' Degener Fifthly, while the social model is mostly critical of public health policies that advocate the prevention of impairment, the human rights model recognises the fact that properly formulated prevention policy may be regarded as an instance of human rights protection for PWDs Degener Lastly, while the social model can helpfully explain why so many PWDs are living in poverty, the human rights model offers constructive proposals for improving the life situation of PWDs Degener The cultural model of disability developed in the North American context, where disability studies have been approached in an interdisciplinary manner by a number of scholars working in the social sciences and humanities cf.
Michalko ; Titchkosky Junior and Schipper While the medical model and the social model each focus on only one factor in their approach to disability, the cultural model focuses on a range of cultural factors. Such factors may include medical and social factors but are by no means limited to these factors. Accordingly, the cultural approach does not seek to define disability in any specific way but rather focuses on how different notions of disability and non-disability operate in the context of a specific culture.
The work of Snyder and Mitchell has played a critically important role in shaping the theoretical contours of the cultural approach to understand disability. Snyder and Mitchell argue that particular 'cultural locations of disability' have been created on behalf of PWDs, locations where PWDs 'find themselves deposited, often against their will'.
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Some of these 'cultural locations' include: The cultural model of disability is gaining increasing acceptance in the disability community, especially through its adoption by a number of deaf culture theorists cf. Holcomb ; Lewis According to the charity model, PWDs are victims of circumstance who should be pitied. Their situation is tragic, and they are suffering'.
Able-bodied people should therefore assist PWDs in whatever way possible, as 'they need special services, special institutions, etc. Many people in the disability community regard the charity model in a very negative light. The model is often seen as depicting PWDs as helpless, depressed and dependent on other people for care and protection, contributing to the preservation of harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about PWDs Seale Disability as a challenge to productivity.
While the economic model insists on the importance of 'respect, accommodations, and civil rights to people with disabilities', such concerns are subservient to the economic model's estimation of a disabled person's ability to work and contribute to the economy Smart The economic model is often utilised by governments as a basic point of reference for formulating disability policy Jordan In South Africa, the influence of the economic model may be seen in the definition of disability adopted by the Department of Labour's Code of Good Practice: People are considered as persons with disabilities who satisfy all the criteria in the definition: The economic model of disability has been criticised for framing disability almost exclusively in terms of a cost-benefit analysis, neglecting to take other important factors into account cf.
Such an economic focus may contribute to the dehumanisation of the person with disability as someone who is somehow 'missing parts' Stone cited by Smart Disability as embodied experience. According to the limits model of disability - a distinctly theological model of disability developed by Creamer - disability is best understood with reference to the notions of embodiment and 'limitness'. Firstly, with regard to understanding the concept of embodiment, Creamer From this point of view, the reality of embodied experience must be regarded as an important source for engaging in theology Creamer Moreover, such an approach has particular significance for how the issue of disability is approached, especially when considered in the context of what Creamer According to the limits model, it is important that people accept the fact that all human beings experience some level of limitation in their everyday lives Creamer Moreover, such limits are experienced to varying degrees during all the phases of our life Creamer Rather than being something foreign to human experience, limits are as a matter of fact 'a common, indeed quite unsurprising, aspect of being human' Creamer Furthermore, as people experience 'various formations' of embodiment, 'disabled embodiment' is one of those formations of embodiment Creamer The limits model of disability has profound implications for how disability is understood.
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Firstly, it seeks to avoid categorisation such as 'disabled', 'able-bodied', 'abnormal body' or 'normal body', preferring to focus on 'a web of related experiences' that recognises - for example - that a person who is legally blind might have more in common with someone who wears glasses than someone who uses wheelchair Creamer Secondly, because the limits model emphasises that 'limits are an unsurprising aspect of being human' Creamer As Creamer points out: This model also highlights that limits go far beyond those labelled as part of the province of disability, and shows that some limits are viewed as more normal I cannot fly than others I cannot run.