The Necessity For Disability In Social Work Education

Abstract

Although over a quarter of the United States population has one or more disabilities, past studies and reviews of the social work curriculum indicate that students do not receive a well-rounded education on the topic. Building upon previous studies, this research study aimed to further understand social workers’ education around disability in their social work programs. Social work students and graduates (N=78) completed an anonymous online survey exploring this topic. Social workers strongly believe that this is an important topic for social work education. While most learned about mental health disabilities, fewer than half reported learning about other types of disabilities (e.g., cognitive/intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, hearing disabilities, visual impairments, invisible disabilities). Only one-third believed they had learned how to recognize ableism in practice. These findings suggest that while some programs include substantial disability content, other programs have substantial work to do in this area. Implications from this study urge social work programs to enhance visibility about disability in both the curriculum and the community. Most social work students understand the importance of disability education and wish it was covered more in the classrooms. The voices of disabled students indicate that disability is something that warrants more presence and celebration in social work programs. Another important implication is that the level of disability education a social work student receives is dependent on the program they attend, so disability is a topic that is being covered in some courses and programs. This demonstrates the need for consistency amongst accredited social work programs to ensure students are equally prepared to work with disabled clients.