A Case Work Intervention To Improve The Interpersonal Skills Of Children With Mild Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is a congenital underdevelopment of the brain or damage to the brain that results in certain intellectual,psychological,linguistic and physical impairments in children that do not possess the abilities required of children of the same age and do not disappear in the short term.Although many people with intellectual disabilities make great strides in adaptive behaviour,most groups of them will still be affected by their own intellectual impairment.Most children with mild intellectual disability are able to acquire some basic knowledge,communicate and interact normally with others,and live independently.How to better integrate children with mild intellectual disability into society and improve the communication skills of children with mild intellectual disability has been the focus of professionals’ attention.This paper combines social work theory and practice to improve the interpersonal skills of mildly mentally handicapped children,aiming to provide some reference of practical experience for future scholars engaged in related research.This paper uses a casework approach,guided by social learning theory and dominant perspective theory,interview method and participant observation to help improve the interpersonal skills of children with mild intellectual disability.After a number of sessions and exchanges,the author communicated with the client,Little D,and his staff,with a view to carrying out a case work intervention.Before starting the intervention,we assessed the client’s problems and made a service plan based on the results of the assessment and the client’s specific needs.The intervention was then carried out and was divided into three stages and 10 interventions.At the end of the intervention,the client’s negative emotions were effectively controlled,her low self-esteem was greatly overcome,she was willing to communicate with others,her interpersonal range was significantly expanded,and her personality was more cheerful and optimistic,and the objectives set for the intervention were basically achieved.Based on the above-mentioned effective interventions,the social worker conducted an in-depth professional reflection on the enhancement of the interpersonal skills of the child with mild intellectual disability,summarised and analysed the shortcomings and areas for improvement of the author’s interventions with Little D,and made three suggestions for the enhancement of the interpersonal skills of the child with mild intellectual disability: Firstly,to help the child to improve his/her own abilities and encourage him/her to face life positively;secondly,to pay attention to changing the child’s self-perception and try to explore the child’s own self-perception.Secondly,we should pay attention to changing children’s self-concept and try to explore their own potential;thirdly,we should actively co-ordinate the resources available from various sectors to help children integrate into society faster.