Paving the Way.docVIP

Paving the Way 　　When Li Si was a child， his role model was Zhang Haidi， the writer who has been called China’s Helen Keller for overcoming childhood paraplegia to become an activist for the rights of people with disabilities. One of his primary school books carried Zhang’s photograph and to him， she symbolized the qualities of cherishing life and striving for selfimprovement. 　　After he grew up， Li became a social worker， working to support people with disabilities in Shenzhen， a major city in Guangdong Province. He started his career in social services in 2008， the same year in which Zhang became president of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation（CDPF）. The eight years since have been a golden period for the cause of people with disabilities in China， witnessing the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games， the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Para Games， and a pavilion for people with disabilities at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai， the first of its kind at a world fair. 　　Inspired by Zhang， numerous people are choosing to help people with disabilities by becoming social workers. 　　According to the Australian Association of Social Workers， social work as a profession facilitates social change and development， social cohesion and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice， human rights， collective responsibility and respect for diversity are central to social work. 　　“A social work professional’s main tasks may include a number of services such as case management―linking clients with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs， investigating and counseling，” Li said.“Every job is led by the aim of achieving optimum psychosocial functioning.” 　　 Disability services 　　Shenzhen was among the first cities in China to provide public social services. On October 25， 2007， the Shenzhen Government released guidelines for organizing social workers， which laid the policy foundation for the city’s social work sector. 　　The work of social se