009: Deaf Parents and Safeguarding
A subject we don't often think about
Hello there,
Welcome to another edition of Practice Reflections, the free newsletter dedicated to sharing research, reviews and reflections related to safeguarding. If you are new to the newsletter, thank you. I write this newsletter from my own professional perspective and I hope that I can inspire your own reflections to aid your professional growth.
I have always believed that CPD is an activity that can take many shapes and that it doesn’t need to be something that takes a long time to complete. Safeguarding work is emotionally challenging, but maintaining an understanding of new research and practice issues shouldn’t have to take up a lot of precious time.
That is why I have started to publish this newsletter. Each month, I publish my own reflections and learning from a variety of sources. I read the research, policy papers, practice reviews and briefings which are relevant to Safeguarding both Adults and Children. I then offer my own professional reflection on how the papers I read will influence my practice. The papers I review in this newsletter are all open-access, which means that anyone can follow the links provided to read the research themselves.
This week, I have focused on a research paper related to Children’s Safeguarding.
Assessing deaf parents in safeguarding and child protection processes: Deaf experts’ experience of routine social work practice (2024)
When thinking about what to read and review, I consider how useful the search results will be for my own practice. This week, I came across Rosemary Oram, Patricia Cartney, and Alys Young’s article: Assessing deaf parents in safeguarding and child protection processes: Deaf experts’ experience of routine social work practice in the journal Qualitative Social Work. It was published in December 2024.
Within the article, Oram et al. write about the challenges faced by Deaf parents who experience the children’s safeguarding assessment process. It was an excellent read and one which has drastically enlightened my professional (and personal) knowledge.
Oram et al. interviewed seven specialist practitioners who were fluent in British Sign Language (BSL), each having at least 5 years of working in a specialist role supporting the Deaf community. There is a recognition that this is a small sample. However, the paper also highlights that there are no longer specialist practitioners within Children’s Social Care departments.
The paper gives an overview of the specific challenges for people who are Deaf and some of the difficulties faced when parents receive interventions from the Local Authority. I have to be honest; the article also exposed my own naivety about the needs of such a marginalised group of people.
It is estimated that there are between 73,000 and 127,000 individuals who make up the Deaf community. The Consortium for Research in Deaf Education estimates that 97% of Deaf children and young people are educated in mainstream education. However, there is very little accessible provision for this group of children, leading to inequality and these children also consistently achieve lower educational attainment.
BSL is recognised as an indigenous language of the United Kingdom and I was interested to read that the Deaf community is a linguistically and culturally diverse group. With specific provisions within the Equality Act (2010), Social Workers and Safeguarding professionals must be aware of the communication needs of Deaf people.
Oram et al. identified that the language needs and interpretation of responses of parents who are Deaf are often not considered by children’s Social Workers. For example, the usual open-ended type of questions used to develop an assessment are not suited to Deaf people. This is because the language used is more direct. Without being aware of this, the interviewees were able to recall situations where details were lost in translation. And when thinking about the purpose of safeguarding work, nobody wants details to be lost in translation.
You can read the research paper here
Practice Reflection
I have been a Social Worker for nearly 14 years and have worked in Children’s Safeguarding for over a decade. I have assessed and supported hundreds of families. And I take my responsibility to be inclusive and culturally sensitive seriously. However, after reading this research paper, I admit that I do not know anything about the cultural needs of the Deaf community.
As I was reading the paper, I was wondering what I would do if I was allocated to work with someone who is Deaf. Initially, I thought about being allocated the work as a Children’s Social Worker, but the more I think about it, the more I realise that the lessons identified in this research are transferrable to ANY area of practice in Health and Social Care.
For example, my initial response to my thoughts was that I could write on a pad or laptop. However, the research has highlighted that this is not appropriate given the fact that the written word is a reflection of the spoken word. Deaf people may not understand the sentences and sentence structure. Equally, using a BSL interpreter will provide some ability to communicate with someone who is Deaf, but the nuances of safeguarding work require careful consideration of the language used. When you consider what is at stake in the safeguarding world, I can’t help but wonder whether the lack of specialists who have an expert understanding of not only BSL but also the cultural needs contribute to the discrimination the Deaf community faces daily.
I have initially wondered whether I should learn BSL. However, I also think about families where English is not their primary language and how I haven’t set to learn those languages. In many ways, the lessons and reflections I have for communicating with someone who is Deaf are similar to communicating with someone whose first language is not English.
I would love to know your thoughts about this.
Finally
I hope you have found value in this week’s post. I learn a lot with each post and believe that it is making me a better professional as I am dedicating time to sit and reflect on contemporary issues within the Safeguarding sector. I hope you feel the same after your own reflections.
I am in the process of developing an online community for practitioners within the Safeguarding world called the “Practice Reflections: Safeguarding CPD Community”. It will be a place where research (both open access and paid-for research), practice reviews, policy updates and knowledge briefings will be shared. I am planning a series of webinars which will be exclusive to the community. It will also become a place to network and collaborate with other professionals who share an interest in Safeguarding CPD.
If you would like to be the first to hear about the community when it opens, please click on the button below.
I have one final ask: can you please forward this post to three colleagues who you believe would find value in these posts? This newsletter will always be free and is designed to show that it is possible to develop a habit of reflection and professional growth as a busy practitioner by offering my own reflections. I want as many people as possible to know about this newsletter and you can play a part in how big this can grow.
Until next time,
Thank you for reading. And remember, you are amazing and do amazing things and the world is a better place because of you.
Anthony Vaughan
Author of Social Work Survival, Practice Reflections and Daily Notes of Hope,