Deaf

Blindness
EDSP 411
Nicole Saggio

Key Information
Deafblindness is a combined vision and hearing
loss that impact individuals learning,
communication, and interaction with the world.
Does not mean total deafness and total blindness.
Impacts the way an individual accesses
information.
Requires special modifications and supports that
go beyond what is typically needed with a
hearing loss alone or a vision loss alone.
Individuals with combined vision and hearing loss
cannot rely on vision or hearing to effectively
compensate for the lack of the other sense.

Causes, Characteristics
& Symptoms
Deafblindess has four primary causes of vision and
hearing loss.
Hereditary/ Chromosomal Disorders
Prenatal Viruses, Diseases, or Harmful Chemicals
Complications at Birth
Postnatal Injuries or illnesses
Deafblindess is often accompanied by
additional disabilities. Causes such as maternal rubella
can also affect the heart and brain. Some genetic
syndromes or brain injuries that cause deafblindness
may also cause cognitive disabilities and/or physical
disabilities.
Characteristics of children with Deafblindess
Heterogeneous Group
Multiplicative of deafness or blindness
Methodical/ Need for repetitive
May become Frustrated
Desire for communication
Enjoy movement (e.g. slides, dancing, scooters)
People with Deafblindness may experience
symptoms including speech and other noises sounding
muffled and indistinct. They may have an inability to
understand conversations when there is background
noise and may need to turn up the volume on the
television or radio. They may need to ask others to
speak more loudly, clearly, or slowly. Some common
symptoms of conditions that cause a progressive loss
of vision include pain in the eyes, blurring of vision,
halos appearing around sources of light, severely
reduced night vision, and problems seeing in bright
sunlight or well-lit rooms.

Federal Definition
The federal definition of deaf-blindness as
found in the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) 2004
Deaf-Blindness means a concomitant hearing
and vision impairment, the combination of
which cause such severe communication and
other developmental and educational needs
that they cannot be accommodated in special
education programs solely for children with
deafness or children with blindness.
[Code of Federal Regulations 300.7(c)(2)]

Identification and Prevalence

Early Identification of deafblind children and
intervention is vital. There needs to be an
accurate assessment of their needs. A screening
program called NHS Newborn Hearing Screening
Programme screens for hearing impairment soon
after birth and helps with early identification.
Eye tests can identify if a child has a visual
impairment and determine the category of
blindness the student is in.
In the 2003-2004 school year, 1,667 students
were served under the category of multiple
disabilities in the United States, representing 0.03%
of all special education students.

Modifications and
Adaptations in the
Classroom
Educators who work with individuals
who are deafblind have a unique
challenge to ensure that the person
has access to the world beyond their
limitations. The most important
challenge for teacher is to
meaningfully communicate.
Individuals who are deafblind will
often need touch in order for them to
be sure that their partner shares their
focus of attention. Exploring objects
should be done in a nondirective way,
allowing the student to have control.
The student may have slow response
times so the teacher should allow
extra time for students to respond.
Symbolic communication can be
utilized as helpful communication
systems. Touch cues, object symbols,
sign language, gestures, picture
symbols, fingerspelling, signed English,
Braille, lip reading, large print, and
Tadoma method of speech reading
are all useful communication systems.

Work Citied
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Deafblindness/Pages/Symptoms
www.nationaldb.org/NCDBProducts.php?prodID=38
www.sparkle.usu.edu/Topics/deafblindness/
www.projectidealonline.org/deafBlindness.php
www.oregondb.org/OverviewDefinition.html
http://hearing.screening.nhs.uk/