DrRosemary Oram

Dr Rosemary Oram works at the University of Wolverhampton on an ESRC-funded research project (Deaf Mediators, Interpreters and Translators - DMIT) involving two other universities - Humboldt University, Berlin and Toulouse Jean-Jaures in France. [http://www.wlv.ac.uk/research/dmit/].

Prior to joining the University of Wolverhampton, Rosemary spent 17 years at the University of Manchester, where she held a range of research positions, including Co-Investigator and Co-Applicant roles. She worked across a range of projects which included deaf children and social care, further education options for young deaf people and care options for older deaf people in Wales. She also led consultations and evaluation projects for national organisations to support the development and improvement of their services.

Rosemary’s professional background has been in social work and deaf communities. Her practice experience includes working with families, undertaking independent assessments, and supporting deaf parents involved in Family Court proceedings. She is a registered social worker with Social Work England.

In 2013, Rosemary completed a Master of Research in Health and Social Care and subsequently completed her PhD in March 2025. Conducted in partnership with Manchester City Council, her doctoral research explored parenting assessments in safeguarding contexts where one or more parents are Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users. Her work highlights the importance of cultural competence in assessments involving Deaf parents, who are often viewed primarily through a disability lens rather than recognised as members of a minority language and cultural community. Findings from this research have been published in four peer-reviewed publications, offering recommendations for good practice, including the involvement of deaf-specialist professionals.

Alongside her academic work, Rosemary is actively involved in local and national campaigns that promote the rights and inclusion of deaf people.