First,whatisdeafblindness andhowdoesitimpactoverall

development?Weknowthatweallmusthavesensoryinformation
abouttheworldaroundusinordertolearn,function,andinteract
withothers.Forthoseofuswithtypicallydevelopingvisionand
hearing,themajorityofthisvitalinformationcomestousthrough
themajorsensesofvisionandhearing.Thisautomaticflowof
informationthroughtheeyesandearsbeginsatbirthand
continuesthroughoutlifewithoutmucheffortonourpart.

But whathappenswhenthereisalossofbothvisionandhearing?
Forchildrenwithbothvisionandhearingloss,thenaturalflowof
visualandauditoryinformationdoesnotoccur.Bitsandpiecesof
informationmaybeavailable,butthosewillbeincomplete,
distorted,andunreliable.Enoughcompleteinformationcannotbe
accessedinaclearandconsistentway.

Eitherhearinglossorvisionlossalonehasagreatimpact.Achild
withavisionlossmustrelymoreuponhearingtocompensatefor
thelackofavailablevisualinformation.Therefore,hearing
becomescriticallyimportantandmustcompensateforthelackof
vision.

Achildwithahearinglossmustrelymoreuponvisiontocompensate
forthelackofavailableauditoryinformation.Therefore,vision
becomescriticallyimportantandmustcompensateforthelackof
hearing.

Forchildrenwithcombinedvisionandhearinglossordeafblindness,
neithersensecanadequatelycompensateforthelackoftheother.
Accesstotheclearandconsistentflowofvisualandauditory
informationthatisnecessaryforlearning,interaction,andoverall
developmentisnotavailable.Simulationscangivesomeideaof
whattheworldislikewithcombinedvisionandhearingloss.
Forsomeonewithamildacuityloss,amountsofvisualinformation
becomeunclearorunavailable. Forsomeonewithamoderate
hearingloss,amountsofauditoryinformationbecomedistortedor
unavailable. Forsomeonewithaseverevisionandhearingloss,the
impactcanbeoverwhelming.

Inthesimplestterms,deafblindness canbedefinedasa
disabilityofaccessaccesstovisualandauditoryinformation
aboutpeopleandthingsintheenvironment.

Thetermdeafblindness doesnotnecessarilyrefertototal
deafnessandtotalblindness.Indeed,degreesofvisionand
hearinglossvarygreatly.Forexample,onepersonmayhavea
moderatevisualacuitylossandaseverehearingloss.

Anotherpersonmayhaveonlylightperceptionandamoderate
hearingloss.
Ineachoftheseexampleseventhoughthereissomevisualand
auditoryinformationavailable,thecombinedeffectsofboththe
visionandthehearinglossaresignificant.

Inaddition,manychildrenwhoaredeafblind haveother
disablingconditionssuchasphysicaldisabilities,health
problems,andcognitivechallenges.

Overall,asagroup,childrenwhoaredeafblind arediverseand
eachhasuniqueneeds.Yet,theyallsharesimilarlearningand
communicationchallengesandtheisolatingeffectsofcombined
visionandhearingloss.

Althoughdeafblindness affectsallareasofdevelopment,learningis
especiallyimpacted.Forchildrenwithdeafblindness,learning
throughindependentobservationandexplorationisdifficult.
Becausetheflowofvisualandauditoryinformationislimited,they
cannotlearnwhattheydonotdetect,andtheyareunawareof
whatinformationtheyremissing.Forthesechildren,much
essentialinformationismissed,andincidentallearningisgreatly
limited.

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Ifwelookattypicallearningforchildrenwithnormalvisionand
hearing,directlearningorthatwhichinvolveshandson
experiencesmakesuparelativelysmallportionoftheiroverall
lifetimelearning.Secondarylearningorthatwhichisobtained
bylisteningtoanotherpersonteachorpresentinformation,
suchasateacherinaclassroom,makesupaslightlygreater
portionoftheiroveralllifetimelearning.Thelargestportionof
lifetimelearningcomesthroughincidentallearningorthat
whichoccursautomaticallywithoutmucheffortsimplyfromthe
flowofsensoryinformationthatisconstantlyavailable.Thisis
thewaymostinformationislearned.

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Forchildrenwhoaredeafblind,thistypicalwayoflearningdoes
notoccurnaturally.Incidentallearningusuallydoesnotoccur
andisnoteffectivebecauseofthelackofaccesstoinformation,
andsecondarylearningisdifficultforthesamereason.Direct
learningisbyfarthemosteffectivewayforthesechildrento
learnabouttheworld,sohandsonexperiencesareessential.
However,manyeducationalsettingsarenotgenerallydesigned
forthistypeoflearning.

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Communicationisespeciallyimpacted.Becauseofthelackof
accesstovisualandauditoryinformation,notonlydoesthe
developmentofformallanguagebecomeverydifficult,butthe
basicabilitytoconnecttootherpeopleandbeapartofthe
worldisalsodifficult.

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Childrenwhoaredeafblind missopportunitiestoobservethe
communicationofothersandtoparticipateincommunication
themselves.Often,theirowncommunicationattemptsare
missedormisunderstoodbyothers.

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Theymaytrytoexpresstheirwantsthroughbehaviorsthatseem
inappropriatetoothers.Theymaybeunawareofwhattheiractions
arecommunicatingtoothers,orthattheiractionsareevenbeing
observedandinterpretedbyothersasaformofcommunication.
Withouttheabilitytocommunicate,theymayhavebehavioral
problems.Theycannotdevelopformalcommunicationand
interactionskillsontheirown.

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Forchildrenwithdeafblindness,socialandemotional
developmentisalsoaffected.Thelackofaccesstocomplete
visualandauditoryinformationresultsinvaryingdegreesof
isolationanddisconnectionfromtheworldthatare
incomprehensibletothosewithvisionandhearing.

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Childrenwhoaredeafblind maylivelivesofchaoswithpeople
andthingscomingandgoingrandomly.Theymayfindsocial
interactionstobeconfusing,purposeless,orevenfearful,so
theymaydetachfromothersandavoidinteractions.

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Emotionalbondingandtrustingrelationshipsmaybedifficultto
achieve.Selfidentityandselfdeterminationmayalsobe
difficulttoachieve.Typicaleducationalenvironmentsmaynot
beemotionallymanageableforthem.

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