Deafblindness is a term that describes a number of conditions involving both vision and hearing problems.
It is sometimes called dual-sensory impairment.
Some people with deafblindness may have some vision and hearing; others may have a total loss of vision and hearing. Many people will have a combination of the two, such as total deafness plus some loss of vision.
Types of deafblindness
There are two main types of deafblindness:
- congenital, where somebody is born with both visual and hearing problems, and
- acquired, where somebody loses some or all of their hearing and sight at some stage during their life.
There are more than 100 causes of congenital and acquired deafblindness (see Causes page for more information).
In the case of acquired deafblindness, it is rare for both impairments to occur at the same time. For example, with a rare genetic disorder called Usher syndrome, a person is born deaf and then begins to lose their sight later in life. Or, a person may be born blind and start to lose their hearing as they get older.
Personal treatment plan
The fact that there are so many variations of deafblindness means there is no single treatment for the condition. Instead, a personal treatment plan will take into account each individual's needs and requirements (see Treatment for more information).
How common is it?
There are at least 242,000 deafblind children and adults in the UK. Most of these people are aged 75 years and older.
The number of deafblind people in the UK is expected to rise dramatically as the proportion of the population aged over 85 years is projected to treble by 2050.
Outlook
Despite the profound challenges faced by deafblind people, many live full and active lives. For example, the famous deafblind writer, Helen Keller, won worldwide admiration for her books and campaigns for women's and workers' rights, until her death in 1968.
