Inclusive communication in social work: A Malawi practitioner’s perspective on sign language and braille

Abstract

Communication is the backbone of a very profession, so it is in social work. Effective communication is at the very heart of the social work profession. It is the key to building trust, understanding, and strong rapport with clients. It can be verbal, nonverbal or any way a client can convey information. A social worker has no right to choose a client to work with because they are there to serve people. Social work must be an important profession; it needs a huge jump of flexibility and adaptation each time. Social work education and practice in Malawi have neglected the importance of Sign language and Braille communication skills, resulting in a significant gap in service delivery. Privacy is also the center for social work, but social workers involve a third party when working with clients with hearing and visual impairments in the form of interpreters. On the other hand, it intimidates the ethical privacy and confidentiality that a client and social worker deserves. This article is about the importance of acquiring sign language and braille skills as social workers in order to fully serve a community of people with hearing and visual impairments without a third-party interpreter who intimidates the social worker and client privacy. This is personal experiences of a Malawian social worker and special education expert who has worked in general social work practice including social welfare practice, special needs and hospital social work practice. This is purely personal reflections based on work experience working in hospital and social welfare service provision settings.

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Nyirenda F. (2025). Inclusive communication in social work: A Malawi practitioner’s perspective on sign language and braille, African Journal of Social Work, 15(2), 56-62. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v15i2.7