Teaching Note-Critical Issues in Sign Language Interpretation for Social Work Practice

Language barriers negatively affect access to social services, particularly for D/deaf populations who use Sign Language. "D/deaf" is used to encompass both the cultural conception of capital-D Deafness and the medical conception of lowercase-d deafness. Language translation/interpretation is a common need among practitioners of social, legal, medical, and public health services, all ethically bound to offer culturally sensitive services to D/deaf populations. Practitioners who speak languages other than English are often called to act as translators/interpreters, even when they are not trained to do so. Those who are monolingual often partner with trained interpreters. However, seldom are practitioners trained in issues concerning language translation/interpretation practice. This teaching note provides didactic material to help educate social workers to overcome communication barriers and better help D/deaf populations access services. We highlight unique issues concerning Sign Language interpretation and present case illustrations. We propose curricular content that may be offered as a supplement to myriad social work practice classes. Recommendations for practice and research are also included.