Substance Abuse

The past 30 years have witnessed limited progress in the estimation of substance use disorders and provision of culturally sensitive treatment for deaf people. The scope of the problem is largely undefined, and recommendations written decades ago are still offered as strategies to reduce barriers and improve the state of substance use treatment. Recent and reliable estimates of the number of deaf people with substance use disorders are unavailable. Until efforts are focused more seriously on the problem of substance use among deaf people, they will continue to have limited access to the full continuum of treatment, especially the numerous evidence-based treatments available to the hearing population.