Definitions of Deafblindness

John McInnis (Intervenor Program in Canada )

The child who is deafblind does not have enough vision to compensate for his lack of hearing or enough hearing to compensate for his lack of vision.

Federal Definition

Deafblindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which creates such severe communication and other developmental and educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness

There are three basic ideas to remember about all people and especially children and adults who are deafblind.

1. Everyone communicates . Whether it be a sigh, blink, point, gesture, sign or word. Everyone can communicate. Our challenge is to find out how our children with deafblindness communicate and respond to it. We can then try to ‘shape' the communication into more formal systems.

2. Everyone is unique . There is no single description of a child that fits all children. What works for one child may not work for another. The “I” in IEP and IFSP stand for “individualized” and that is what our children are - very individualized and thus need very individualized instruction. Most children with deafblindness have some usable vision and hearing. Every effort should be made to use and enhance the remaining vision and hearing.

3. Everyone needs input . Deafblindness is an information gathering disability. We all need information about the world around us. Most of us receive that information by observing and listening. Imagine if the only information you received about the world was through your touch, taste, smell and distorted vision and hearing. We need to find the most appropriate way to provide input to children with deafblindness.

Many areas of development and growth are impacted by deafblindness. Lack of information through the senses is one of the biggest impacts. Communication, movement, learning, and emotional development are all affected by deafblindness. Several of these impacts will be discusses in other DISH sections.

More information can be obtained at the following websites. Please understand that websites are always changing and some may not be available.

“CART” is a summary of basic strategies to remember when working with children who have deafblindness

"Feelin Groovy: Functional Tactual Skills” is an excellent article that has a lot of basic information and many applications. It has ideas that apply to communication, concept development, teams and touch.

“NTAC Parent's Perspectives on…” is a compilation of things in three areas, that over 80 parents across the nation felt were important for deafblind children. The areas the workshop covered were: communication, behavioral issues and instructional strategies. NTAC (National Technical Assistance Consortium for Children and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind) produced this list in 1998.

“Overview of Deafblindness” is a DB-LINK publication.

“Early Interactions” is also from DB-LINK. Although it is mainly for very young children, the concepts can be used with any age.

“Talking the Language of the Hands to the Hands” is another DB-LINK publication. Touch and how we use our hands is vitally important to our children with deafblindness.

DISH stands for Deafblind Intervention Strategies for the Home,
click here for the intro and index page