Deafblindness

Deaf-blind American author, activist, and lecturer Helen Keller in 1904

Deaf-blindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing.^[1][2] Educationally, individuals are considered to be deaf-blind when the combination of their hearing and sight loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they require significant and unique adaptations in their educational programs. Helen Keller was one such individual.^[3]

Communication

Deaf-blind people communicate in many different ways as determined by the nature of their condition, the age of onset, and what resources are available to them. For example, someone who grew up deaf and experienced vision loss later in life is likely to use a sign language (in a visually modified or tactile form). Others who grew up blind and later became deaf are more likely to use a tactile mode of their spoken/written language. Methods of communication include:

• Use of residual hearing (speaking clearly, hearing aids) or sight (signing within a restricted visual field, writing with large print).
• Tactile signing, sign language, or a manual alphabet such as the American Manual Alphabet or Deaf-blind Alphabet (also known as "two-hand manual") with tactile or visual modifications.
• Interpreting services (such as sign language interpreters or communication aides).
• Communication devices such as Tellatouch or its computerized versions known as the TeleBraille and Screen Braille Communicator.

Multisensory methods have been used to help deaf-blind people enhance their communication skills. These can be taught to very young children with developmental delays (to help with pre-intentional communication), young people with learning difficulties, and older people, including those with dementia. One such process is Tacpac.

Deaf-blind amateur radio operators generally communicate on 2-way radios using Morse code.

Technology

Braille equipment includes a variety of multipurpose devices, which enhance access to distance communication. Some can be used as stand-alone devices connected via Wi-Fi, while others are paired with a mobile device to provide tactile access to e-mail, text messaging, and other modern communication resources. To receive Braille equipment, an eligible consumer must be proficient in Braille and must have access to the Internet or cellular service.

The Telebraille does not have a computer communications modem but does have a TTY (TDD) modem. It was designed as a TTY for deaf-blind people and is also useful for face-to-face conversation. It has two components. The sighted component is a modified SuperCom TTY device. It has a qwerty keyboard and a single-line LED display. The display is regular size and is not particularly suited to people with low vision. The SuperCom TTY can be connected directly to the telephone line using a conventional telephone jack or the telephone receiver can be coupled to the SuperCom on a cradle on top of the device. Text flows past the display in a continuous stream, like tickertape. The SuperCom is connected to the Braille portion of the device by a cable that is about two feet long. The Braille display is about 15 characters in width, although there is a knockout to allow additional characters to be installed, at considerable additional cost. The Telebraille is able to communicate in ASCII mode but is not compatible with conventional computer modems. There is what looks like a RS-232 socket on the back of the Braille component, but the instructions for the Telebraille state that this jack is for "future use" and that no computer devices should be attached to it.

A graphic Braille display can be used in sensing graphic data such as maps, images, and text data that require multiline display capabilities such spreadsheets and equations. Graphic Braille displays available in the market are DV-2 (from KGS ^[4]), Hyperbraille,^[5] and TACTISPLAY Table/Walk (from Tactisplay Corp.^[6]). For example, TACTISPLAY Table ^[7] can show 120*100 resolution refreshable Braille graphics on one page. This video shows operation of the device.

Notable cases

• Francisco Goya (1746–1828), Spanish painter, deaf and blind by the time of his death.^[8]
• James Mitchell (1795–1869), congenitally deaf-blind son of Scottish minister.^[9]
• Hieronymus Lorm (1821–1902), inventor and novelist.
• Laura Bridgman (1829–1889), first deaf-blind child to be successfully educated in the U.S.
• Helen Keller (1880–1968), author, activist, and lecturer; first deaf-blind person to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree and perhaps the person most popularly associated with the condition.
• Ragnhild Kåta (1873–1949), first deaf-blind person in Norway to receive an education.
• Marie Heurtin (1885–1921), first deaf-blind born child to be successfully educated in Larnay (France).^[10]
• Alice Betteridge (1901–1966), first deaf-blind Australian to be educated. Teacher, traveller, writer.
• Jack Clemo (1916–1994), British poet who became deaf-blind as an adult.
• Richard Kenney (1924–1979), educator, lecturer, and poet; third deaf-blind person to graduate from an American university; president of the Hadley School for the Blind from 1975 to 1979.^[11]
• Robert Smithdas (1925–2014), first deaf-blind person in the U.S. to receive a Master's degree.
• Mae Brown (1935–1973), Canada’s first deaf-blind university graduate; developed services for the deaf-blind at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).^[12]
• Theresa Poh Lin Chan (born 1945?), Singaporean teacher and writer.
• Young-Chan, South Korean protagonist of the biographical documentary Planet of Snail.
• Haben Girma (born 1988), American disability rights advocate and lawyer. The first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School.^[13]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deaf-blindness.

• Congenital rubella syndrome
• Tadoma
• Tangible symbol systems
• Tommy (rock opera)
• Usher syndrome
• White cane (used by blind people to assist them in walking)

References

External links

• The National Center On Deaf-Blindness
• Deaf-blind UK supporting deaf-blind people in the UK
• The Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults
• Sense Scotland Scottish charity for Deaf-blindness
• The Helen Keller International Award, art competition at the Wayback Machine (archived October 18, 2010)
• Sense - UK charity for Deaf-blindness
• Sense International (India), an NGO working with deaf-blind people
• The Center for Deaf-Blind Persons
• Frequently Asked Questions About Deaf-Blindness - Detailed info about what it's like to be deaf-blind (communication, mobility, cultural identity, quality of life, etc.)
• World Federation of the Deaf-blind
• American Association of the Deaf-Blind
• Sense International (India) - working with Deaf-blind people in India
• Canadian Deaf-blind and Rubella Association
• New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative - working with Deaf-blind youth, families, and service providers in New York
• Kansas Deaf-Blind Fund - offsets costs associated with educating students who are deaf-blind
• Oklahoma Deaf-Blind Technical Assistance Project - working with children & youth with DB, their families, educational teams, and agencies
• APASCIDE The Spanish Association of Families of Deaf-blind People
• Able Australia - formerly the Deaf-blind Association of Victoria, Australia
• Helen Keller, Wilhelm Jerusalem and the froundation of the first deaf blind institute in Vienna in 1913 taken from "Wilhelm Jerusalem - Helen Keller:'Letters'" edited by Herbert Gantschacher. ISBN 978-3-9503173-0-5, ARBOS-Edition © & ® 2010-2012
• "Haben Girma Homepage"