CDI common mistakes
CDI · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating a referral label as a diagnosis or complete communication assessment.
A vague description may conceal language or environmental barriers.
What to do instead
Seek concrete observations and consult the person accessibly about actual needs.
Assuming a generalist credential proves every specialty skill.
Assignments can require additional language, setting, and modality competence.
What to do instead
Assess the particular work and arrange suitable preparation or support.
Treating ASL as English labels in a different channel.
Grammar, reference, pragmatics, and nonmanual features can differ.
What to do instead
Analyze meaning and structure rather than count matching words.
Using one community experience as a universal consumer profile.
Deaf people have diverse languages, identities, and histories.
What to do instead
Use cultural knowledge to support inquiry rather than replace the individual’s message.
Guessing a missing clause to preserve fluent appearance.
Prediction can add meaning absent from the received source.
What to do instead
Clarify or repeat the source through an appropriate transparent repair.
Leaving a material error because correction feels embarrassing.
Participants continue receiving the wrong meaning.
What to do instead
Coordinate a timely accurate correction with clear attribution.
Treating social curiosity or an invoice as permission for a full case narrative.
Purpose and confidentiality still limit disclosure.
What to do instead
Share only justified information through appropriate protected channels.
Giving clinical or legal advice as if it came from the source.
It changes the message and can exceed professional scope.
What to do instead
Facilitate the question to the appropriate professional and preserve consumer agency.
Assuming all DeafBlind people want the same tactile approach.
Sensory access, language, skills, and preferences differ.
What to do instead
Plan with the individual and reassess consent, comfort, and information needs.
Treating the hearing teammate as automatically superior in meaning decisions.
Hearing status is not a measure of accuracy or relevant expertise.
What to do instead
Use professional equality, source evidence, and a coordinated feed and repair process.