What the Social Work Profession Can Offer Deafblind People: A Marginalized Area of Practice, with a Marginalized Population: A Marginalized Area of Practice, with a Marginalized Population

Deafblindness is associated with various psychosocial difficulties, including loss, managing relationships, and maintaining emotional wellbeing. Such matters are of particular concern to social workers. Furthermore, deafblind people invariably require a response from both health and social care professionals. Nevertheless, the social work profession has somewhat neglected practice in this field. Indeed, it appears that principally, it remains left to rehabilitation workers, educationalists, psychologists, and specialist health practitioners to support the deafblind population. This chapter outlines what social work can offer deafblind people, drawing on its assessment skills, its known effectiveness in combining emotional and practical support, and in coordinating services. It seeks to encourage more social workers to develop their knowledge of deafblindness and to specialize in the field, and calls on the research community to include social workers and social work academics in future interdisciplinary study of the phenomenon.