Main implications
To varying degrees, deafblindness limits activities and restricts full participation in society. It affects communication, access to information, orientation, and the ability to move around freely and safely.
To help compensate for the combined vision and hearing impairment, the tactile sense becomes especially important.
There is a high risk that the physical and psychological health, as well as social life will be affected.
Comments
On the combined vision and hearing impairment
The severity of the combined vision and hearing impairment depends on:
The time of on-set, that is whether it is congenital, acquired or age related. Especially in relation to communication development and language acquisition.
The degree and nature of the vision and hearing impairments.
Whether it is combined with other impairments.
Whether it is stable or progressive.
On the distinct disability
The fact that it is hard for the impaired senses to compensate for each other means that:
Attempting to use one impaired sense to compensate for the other one is time-consuming and energy-draining; thus, sensory perception is often fragmented.
A decrease in the function of vision and hearing increases the need to utilise other sensory stimuli (i.e., tactile, kinaesthetic, proprioceptive, haptic, smell and taste).
It limits the access to information from a distance.
It creates a need to rely on information within the near surroundings.
To create meaning, it becomes necessary to rely on memory and draw conclusions from fragmented information.
On activities and participation
Deafblindness limits activities and restricts full participation in society.
According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) participation is a given right for all human beings. Thus, in order to enable the individual to use their potential capacity and resources, society is required to facilitate specialised services.
The individual and their environment should be equally involved, but the responsibility for granting access to activities lies with society. An accessible society should at least include:
Available competent communication partners.
Available specialised deafblind interpreting, including interpreting of speech, environmental description and guiding.
Available information for everyone.
Human support to ease everyday life.
An adapted physical environment.
Accessible technology and technological aids.
A person with deafblindness may be more disabled in one activity and less disabled in another. Variation in functioning might be the consequence of both environmental and personal factors.
Specialised competence related to deafblindness, including an interdisciplinary approach, is vital for proper service provision.