Supporting d/Deaf children — putting the child at the centre of decision making

Language and communication barriers faced by d/Deaf children and young people can manifest in a way that increases safeguarding risk. It's important that there are professionals who can understand and communicate with a child or young person if they need to report or disclose any issues they are experiencing.

In this podcast episode, a panel of experts from the Social Workers with Deaf Children and Professionals Working Group explore how the differing language and communication needs of d/Deaf children can affect their safety and the child protection support they receive.

The discussion covered:

additional support a d/Deaf child or young person may need in relation to reporting abuse or making a disclosure
the potential for hearing professionals to misinterpret how well d/Deaf children and young people can understand them
barriers which could prevent professionals identifying safeguarding concerns when working with d/Deaf children and young people
the importance of avoiding assumptions around how d/Deaf children and young people prefer to communicate
the impact of disappearing specialist knowledge for working with d/Deaf children and young people in professional practice.