Those who are born deaf and blind, which can happen if the mother suffered Rubella (German Measles) during pregnancy.
Those who were born deaf and then lost their sight. This is often caused by Usher Syndrome – deafness followed by a decrease in sight because of retinitis pigmentosa (tunnel vision).
Those who were born blind and then lost their hearing.
Those who become deafblind, most commonly as a result of old age, or through an illness or accident.
How many people in the UK are deafblind?
About 24,000 people in the UK are deafblind, but these figures do not take into account the large number of elderly people who are losing both their sight and hearing. So the number of people with a combined sight and hearing loss could well be as high as 250,000.
Communication
Quite a few deafblind people still have a little useful sight and hearing which can be assisted by wearing glasses and hearing aids. However, if there is a lot of background noise, the hearing aids magnify it all and it is really difficult for the person to pick out the speaker’s voice. Also, if the person relies on lipreading, then a place must be well lit otherwise they can’t easily see what the speaker is saying.
Deafblind people who were born deaf or went deaf in early years usually use British Sign Language, rather than spoken English. Those who have some remaining sight may still be able to see Sign Language at close quarters. If they can’t, they may place their hands on the hands of the person signing to them to help recognise the signs.
Other deafblind people who have either very limited or no sight or hearing at all, need the speaker to communicate with them on the palm of their hand. One way is to trace out the letters of each word in block capitals, one on top of the other. This is simple but the drawback is that it is slow and also a person who has been blind all their life may not easily recognise the letters as they are more used to reading Braille.
A quicker method is called ‘deafblind manual’ and is like the fingerspelling used in British Sign Language, but placed on the hand. Different letters are spelt out by touching specific areas of the fingertips and palm of the deafblind person. For example, an ‘a’ is made by touching the person’s thumb. Deafblind manual can be learnt in half an hour and after practice it can be possible to have a conversation at a reasonable pace by using this type of fingerspelling. Sadly, many people never bother to learn this easy method of communication and if they meet a deafblind person who uses it, then there is a total breakdown of communication which is frustrating and embarrassing for everyone involved.
