Social Work in Canada An Introduction Third Edition

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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 15: Social Work with Persons with Disabilities
Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Social Work With Persons With Disabilities Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Work With Persons With Disabilities
 Who Are People with Disabilities?

 History and Services for People with Disabilities
 Approaches to Disability: The Medical & Social
Models
 The Independent Living Movement
 The Stigma of Disability
 Income Security Programs
 Disability and Social Work Practice

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Who Are People with Disabilities?
Disability
Persons with disabilities are those who reported
difficulties with daily living activities or who indicated
that a physical or mental condition or health problem
reduced the type or amount of activities they could do.

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 It is estimated that 4.4 million Canadians have a

disability
 Approximately one out of every seven people in
Canada has a disability
 There are approximately 600 million people
worldwide with disabilities

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Children with Disabilities

 Over 200,000 children reported having a disability
 Chronic health conditions, developmental delays,
learning disabilities

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Adults with Disabilities

 Over 631,000 adults reported having a disability
 Pain, mobility, and agility were most common
 Also include impaired hearing, vision, speech

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History of Services
 No universal support care programs for people with

disabilities were established at Confederation (and none
exist in Canada to this day)
 Outdoor relief (begging) was a common form of assistance
 The Poor Laws gave persons with disabilities the license to
beg

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History of Services
Institutionalization (mid-19th century)

 Outdoor relief came to be seen as a mechanism that
created dependency
 Asylums, poor houses, and houses of industry replaced
the former methods of outdoor relief
 Persons with disabilities were to be removed from society,
isolated, and placed in segregated institutions

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History of Services
Rehabilitation Services (post-WWII)

 Establishment of the “welfare state”
 Disability benefits were established for a wide spectrum of
people with disabilities
 Onset of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team
 Establishment of special schools, training programs,
sheltered workshops, summer camps, and recreational
programs

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Approaches to Disability
Medical Model
Views disability as an unfortunate life event where some
form of professional or medical assistance is required.
Involves the following assumptions:
 An individual or family member moves sequentially through
coping stages
 There is one path through the sequence
 An individual can be placed clearly in one stage or another
 There is an optional length of time for staying in each stage

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Approaches to Disability
Political Rights Model

Primarily concerned with broader social and political
change, contending that a comprehensive
understanding of disability can only occur through
examination of the social and political inequality that
exists between disabled people and people without
disabilities.

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The Independent Living Movement (ILM)

Encourages and helps persons with disabilities achieve
self-direction over the personal and community services
needed to attain their own independent living.

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Three major events in 1981 central to

development of the ILM in Canada:
 The United Nations declaration of the International Year of
Disabled Persons
 The Canadian government’s release of its Obstacles report
concerning disability
 The personal contribution of one of its founding members
to the independent living philosophy

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The Stigma of Disability
There are various types of prejudice towards people

with disabilities:
 Disabled people are undesirable and unlovable
 People with disabilities should always be grieving
 People with disabilities are psychologically damaged
 Person deserved disability because of sinful activity
 Being around disabled people is uncomfortable

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The Stigma of Disability
Ableism
Discrimination and prejudice based on physical and
mental ability towards people with disabilities supporting
the belief that people without disabilities are superior to
people with disabilities.

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Income Security Programs
Publicly funded disability programs

Covered by federal, provincial, and municipal legislation
and funded through government taxation.
These programs include the Canada Pension Plan

Disability Pension, the Family Benefits plan, and the
General Welfare Assistance plan.

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Privately funded disability programs

Include programs that are provided through private
insurance plans or through long-term disability plans as
part of job benefits.
These private income security programs are based on

the amount of funding that the recipient has contributed
directly to the plan, or funding that has been contributed
to a plan on behalf of the recipient.

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Gaining Access to Services

1. Eligibility determination by physician
2. Investigation of assets
3. Needs test

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Canada Pension Plan

Eligibility based on the following criteria:
 A physician must determine eligibility
 Benefits are granted only to individuals who have either
contributed during two of the last three years or five of
the last ten years
 Pension benefits consist of a flat rate plus earnings equal
to 75% of the normal retirement pension entitlement

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Disability and Social Work Practice
Family Systems Theory

Families operate as social systems or interrelated
networks in which an impact on one component has
significant consequences for all others in the system.

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Disability and Social Work Practice
There are some basic guidelines for working with

families of newly disabled persons:
 Emotional coping and functioning skills
 Family’s post-trauma functioning
 Person’s status within the family
 Stage in the life cycle of the family
 Understanding the nature and extent of the disability
 Importance of facilitating access to resources

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Websites
 Human Resources and Social Development Canada

www.hrsdc.gc.ca
 Council of Canadians with Disabilities
www.ccdonline.ca
 Disabled Women’s Network Ontario
http://dawn.thot.net/
 Canadian Association for Community Living
www.cacl.ca
 MOUTH magazine
www.mouthmag.com
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Questions for Discussion
Think about a situation where you witnessed or

experienced ableism. What are some ways that
you could address ableism in that context from
a political rights model perspective?

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How are disability benefits provided? What are

some challenges for people with disabilities in
accessing social and income security
programs?

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Name three disabilities that you would define as

“visible.” Name three disabilities that you would
define as “invisible.”
What are the implications of any differences you

find between the two?

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How might your understanding of disability

intersect with a client’s perspective on
disability?
What might that intersection look like if the

client’s country of origin is different from yours?

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What are some of the societal implications of

the high proportion of children with chronic
health conditions?


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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

Chapter 15: Social Work with Persons with Disabilities

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

 Who Are People with Disabilities?

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

 It is estimated that 4.4 million Canadians have a

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Children with Disabilities

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Adults with Disabilities

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

 No universal support care programs for people with

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Institutionalization (mid-19th century)

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Rehabilitation Services (post-WWII)

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Political Rights Model

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

The Independent Living Movement (ILM)

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Three major events in 1981 central to

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

There are various types of prejudice towards people

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Publicly funded disability programs

These programs include the Canada Pension Plan

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Privately funded disability programs

These private income security programs are based on

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Gaining Access to Services

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Canada Pension Plan

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Family Systems Theory

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

There are some basic guidelines for working with

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

 Human Resources and Social Development Canada

Think about a situation where you witnessed or

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

How are disability benefits provided? What are

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

Name three disabilities that you would define as

What are the implications of any differences you

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

How might your understanding of disability

What might that intersection look like if the

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

What are some of the societal implications of

Chapter 15: Social Work In Canada

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