Deaf Blindness

Definition: Deaf-blindness is a condition in which an individual experiences difficulty in both hearing and vision. They do not have to have a total inability to hear or see. According to IDEA, it can cause severe communication, developmental, and educational problems. This cannot be accommodated by special education programs for children that are just deaf or just blind. A person that is deaf-blind, their world is significantly more narrow than a person with full vision and hearing. A person with deaf-blindness must rely on touching and feeling to experience the world. There are many different terms used to describe deaf-blindness; dual sensory impairment, combined vision and hearing loss, dual sensory loss, and dual sensory disability. There are many different challenges for a deaf-blind individual. They must rely on another individual at times, learn not only to communicate, but different methods, learn to navigate, find new methods of socializing and living, and degrading attitudes from other people. Deaf-blindness is caused by many different things. It can have hereditary/chromosomal causes such as Usher, Charge, or Down syndrome. Premature birth, prenatal or congenital complications, or meningitis could also cause deaf-blindness.

Implications: I plan on teaching somewhere in the lower grades. I would prefer first, second, or third grade. At such a young age, this condition may be a bit more difficult. They would probably just be figuring out some things that we take for granted. I think that this condition would be very difficult to incorporate in the regular classroom. I do think inclusion is very important. However, if I cannot allow myself enough time to help this child, that would not be fair. I would first do all the research I could on how best to educate him/her. Then I would make sure we got an IEP for them and began to do all the necessary steps including getting the technology and related services. It would be hard, but I would have to try to put myself in his/her place to educate them.

Specific Technology:

TTD: device that is used to communicate over the phone; the modem converts digital data from the computer into audio tones. They are then transferred through the phone line
TTY: a term used interchangeable with TTD
FSTTY: device similar to TTD and TTY, but the information is turned into Braille


Annotated Bibliography:

Deaf Blind Children’s Fund. (2009). Deaf Blind. About Deaf Blindness. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://deafblindchildren.org/about.html.

This website described briefly what deaf blindness is. The bulk of the article was about how a child with deaf blindness sees the world. It uses several examples of how their life is different.

Deaf Blind Info. (2009). About Deaf Blindness. Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://www.deafblindinfo.org/start/faq.

This organization set up a question and answer form about deaf blindness. It covered topics from the definition to how they communicate or get around.

Miles, B. (1999). National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness. What is Deaf-Blindness?. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://nationaldb.org/aboutDeafBlindness.php.

This website gave a short explanation of what deaf blindness is. It described what they can do and how they can be affected educationally.

Preisler, G. (1996). A-Z to Deafblindness. The Development of Deaf Blind Children. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://www.deafblind.com/developm.html.

This author wrote about a study that she conducted. She reviewed the interaction of deaf-blind children and their parents. She gave different scenarios of how attentive the children can be.

Taylor, A. (2006). Krown Manufacturing. Deaf-Blind Communication Devices. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm06/bm0609/bm060913.htm.

This author wrote a great article on the different devices that deaf-blind people can use for communication. She gave examples of the devices and how they can be used.