Kajal Kiran Aggarwal

Social Work

Past/current experiences working in the field of disabilities:

My previous work with persons with disabilities involved very diverse populations. I began my career in social services as the Activities and Volunteer Coordinator at Sunrise Assisted Living. My primary goals at that facility was to create engaging daily activities for person’s living with various severity of dementia and Alzheimer’s. I then transitioned to working with young children with developmental delays, mostly Autism, at Little City Foundation, where I was a Child Welfare Specialist. Prior to beginning my masters I was the Director of Marketing at Eden Supportive Living in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, there I worked with people who lived with physical disabilities.

Goals for your LEND training experience:

When I began my masters at UIC I knew I wanted to work with people living with Autism. My interest in this population began with my work at Little City Foundation. My goal is to learn as much as I can about the process a family, with a child diagnosed with Autism,  goes through. As a social worker, it will most likely be my job to help families navigate the confusing world of services and professions, with which they will be working. I hope to have some competency about therapies, medications, school procedures, etc., in order to help demystify the process for families.

What you wish to contribute, in the future, as a professional/family member in the field:

I am passionate about cultural competence. I hope that as a practitioner in this field I can help demonstrate and lead other practitioners to use culturally competent practice when working with families who are living with a member with a developmental disability.