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What is Deafblindness?

People with Deafblindness experience sight and hearing loss that affects their everyday life. Deafblindness has varying degrees and does not necessarily mean being totally Deaf and Blind. Most people with Deafblindness have some sight and hearing. Though the combination of two sensory functional limitations, even in a mild form, presents a number of barriers and inclusion needs.

There are two main types of Deafblindness

  •  Congenital Deafblindness: refers to individuals either born with both a visual and hearing impairment or discovered to have both impairments within the first two years of life. This often occurs due to trauma during birth, infections during pregnancy and some rare inherited genetic conditions.
  •  Acquired Deafblindness: refers to individuals who develop both a visual and hearing impairment later in life. Deafblindness can occur to anyone through illness, trauma from accidents or through the normal process of ageing, among other causes. Other individuals may have a visual or hearing impairment and gradually experience changes or difficulties in other sensory functions due to a variety of factors.

How to refer to someone with Deafblindness

Avoid
  • Deaf mute
  • Deaf and dumb
Use
  • Person with deafblindness
  • Person with multi-sensory impairments
  • Person with dual-sensory impairments

Remember: ask for the respectful word to refer to individuals with Deafblindness in your local language.  

Remember: use person first language: Instead of calling one by their condition, prioritize the individual and use their names.  

Most importantly, ask the person with Deafblindness which terms they prefer.

Advice On How to Include People With Deafblindness

Due to the diverse nature of Deafblindness and how it presents in different individuals, often, there are no-one-size-fits-all solutions. While a number of supports and inclusion needs that have been explained under the sections on Visual and Hearing Impairments are also relevant in relation to people with Deafblindness, they may not always be sufficient.

There is need to have an individualized care and support plan with the aim of:

  • Preserving and maximizing the functionality of one’s residual sight and hearing. This may include regular access to medical care and other reasonable accommodation such as tactile sign language, Braille support and a personal assistant, among others.
  • Supporting one in acquiring other communication methods including exploring different assistive technology available.

Important Note: Individuals with complete sight and hearing loss may use tactile sign language to communicate. In this case, it is important to have a sign language interpreter

For individuals with complete hearing loss but with some sight, ensure that the sign language interpreter sits near and where they can easily be seen.

For more information on inclusion tips for people with Hearing Impairments click here

For more information on inclusion tips for people with Visual Impairments click here

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