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  4. Autistic people
  5. Capabilities statement and CPD pathway: resources
  6. Autistic adults toolkit

Top tips

Top tips for social workers from autistic adults
Autistic adults toolkit - top tips (50.08 kB)

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.

Autistic adults toolkit

  • Autistic adults toolkit introduction
  • Feedback tool
  • Induction tool
  • Introduction to video: Sylvia Stanway - Autistic not broken
  • References
  • Reflective tool
  • The role of the social worker with autistic adults
  • Top tips

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