Deafblindness

Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing loss that affects a person’s ability to communicate, access information and get around.

It’s also sometimes called ‘dual sensory loss’ or ‘multi-sensory impairment’.

A deafblind person won’t usually be totally deaf and totally blind, but both senses will be reduced enough to cause significant difficulties in everyday life.

These problems can occur even if hearing loss and vision loss are mild, as the 2 senses work together and 1 would usually help compensate for loss of the other.

Symptoms

A person who’s deafblind won’t usually be totally deaf and totally blind, but both senses will be reduced enough to cause difficulties with everyday activities.

The hearing and/or vision problems may be present from birth, but in many cases one or both problems develop gradually as a person gets older and they may not notice it themselves at first.

If someone you know has a combination of the signs mentioned below, it’s possible they have some degree of deafblindness and should seek medical advice.