Disabilities
Meeting the Needs of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clients By Ariel Meltzer, MSW, LSW
“Knowing there are a growing number of D/d/ HH individuals in our great state of New Jersey, we as social workers need to be mindful of the clinical considerations when working with and/or referring D/d/HH clients for their therapeutic needs.”
I
can recall in 2019, chatting with a colleague I had met about our respective journeys toward becoming social workers, while attending a New Jersey Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NJ DDHH) board meeting. As a Hard of Hearing (HH) adult and newly licensed social worker, I embarrassingly chuckled with my colleague about how difficult the LSW exam was for me, given that I grew up using both English and American Sign Language (ASL); I ran into multiple language barrier issues before finally passing it. My colleague, who identifies as Deaf, nodded in agreement, stating that he has taken the exam a few times and continues to struggle with passing due to ASL being his first language. He went on to explain his concern around a general lack of D/d/HH (Deaf/deaf/Hard of Hearing) social workers practicing in NJ, which he believes is due in part to the language barrier and passing the LSW exam. Today, as a practicing mental health clinician, I look around me and realize my colleague is right. I can count on my fingers the number of licensed social workers in NJ who are fluent in ASL, let alone identify as D/d/HH. This has led me to reflect on a number of barriers that D/d/HH clients may face in New Jersey, as well as clinical considerations for social workers when working with D/d/HH clients.
NJFOCUS •Spring 2024
First, let ’s look briefly at NJ D/d/HH statistics as well as D/HH culture and community terms. According to the most recent data published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, there were 98 babies born in New Jersey who were diagnosed with permanent hearing loss. 1 In 2018, The New Jersey Department of Human Services announced to the public that approximately “850,000 New Jersey residents have varying degrees of hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. This includes individuals who are born deaf and people who encounter late-stage hearing loss.” 2 When we think about D/d/HH individuals, like other minorities, we can think of a spectrum of varying degrees and ranges of hearing loss, as well as an identity that D/d/HH individuals may assign themselves. A capital “D” represents individuals who identify within Deaf culture, whereas a lowercase “d” represents individuals who may not identify within Deaf culture, and/or outside of the culture. For example, an individual who lost their hearing later in life may not identify with Deaf culture, and instead, may think of their hearing loss as just that—a hearing loss, without any attachment and/or identification to Deaf culture. On the topic of Deaf culture, this community represents individuals who may be Deaf, deaf, HH, CODA (Child of Deaf Adult), and/or an ASL interpreter.
