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In 1996, psychologist Robert Pollard, director of the Deaf Wellness Center at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, published an article entitled “Professional Psychology and Deaf People: Th e Emergence of a Discipline.” Speaking primarily to psychologists, he described the cases of Daryl, a deaf patient at a psychiatric center, and Karen, a deaf doctoral student in psychology. He argued that Daryl needed mental health treatment from clinical specialists trained to work with deaf people. He also argued that Karen could become one of these specialists if the fi eld of psychology opened its doors to deaf students. Pollard went on to describe some aspects of the emerging discipline of professional psychology and deaf people. Th is included the ability to assess and treat deaf persons who are fl uent in American Sign Language (ASL) and, just as importantly, dysfl uent in any language. It included “an intimate knowledge of the potentials and pitfalls of translation between ASL and English” (p. 391). Pollard argued on both practical and ethical grounds that this emerging discipline must include full institutional supports for the development of deaf psychologists. Whether psychologists were treating clients or training new professionals, there was enough distinct and new about work with deaf people to make this work a discipline or clinical specialty. Pollards’ seminal article is one of the seeds of this book.1
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