Accessing Mental Health Care a Challenge for Deaf in MI 

Public News Service, September 2013

 

Not being able to hear in a hearing world is a difficult challenge on its own, but experts say the deaf and hearing-impaired in Michigan also struggle to get access to mental-health care. More than 950,000 Michigan residents have a form of hearing loss or deafness, and many of them also have mental-health issues. According to June Walatkiewicz, a clinical social worker who specializes as a mental health provider in the Detroit area, a lack of communication leads to all kinds of barriers in normal psychological development.