Deafblindness

Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing.[1][2] Educationally, individuals are considered to be deafblind when the combination of their hearing and vision loss causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they require significant and unique adaptations in their educational programs.[3] Deafblind people have an experience quite distinct from people who are only deaf or only blind.

Contents

Communication

Deafblind people communicate in many different ways 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 tactual 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:

Multisensory methods have been used to help deafblind 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, or older people, including those with dementia. One such process is Tacpac.

Amateur radio deafblind operators generally communicate on 2-way radios using Morse code.

Prominent deafblind people

Identity

It is often assumed deafblind individuals accept both identities. As with most individuals who identify with more than one group on the basis of a single characteristic, a deafblind individual’s identity is similarly complex. Helen Keller, a prominent activist recognized for her important contributions to the blind population, serves as the perfect example of the complexities of a deafblind individual’s identity.

Keller first captured the public's attention when she graduated from Radcliffe in 1904, when she began advocating for both the blind and the deaf populations. After several years, she found advocating for both the deaf and the blind was too complex. Keller changed her focus to the needs of the blind. As a result of this transformation, her identity as a deaf woman began to vanish. To further emphasize her new identity, in Helen Keller’s Journal, 1936 - 1937, she wrote a controversial statement suggesting being deaf was more burdensome than being blind. Additionally, Keller’s close relationship and work with Alexander Graham Bell, which included sensitive topics such as eugenics and oralism, contribute to the skepticism many culturally deaf individuals feel about her. By choosing the blind identity, she lost an important connection to the deaf community. Though Keller felt the need to choose her identity, not all deafblind individuals feel the need to do so. Using Keller's situation as a case study, it is possible to observe issues raised by identity within a minority group.

See also

References

  1. ^ Keller, Helen (1938). Helen Keller's Journal, 1936-1937. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 
  2. ^ Kudlick, Catherine; Nielsen (2005). "Kim". Journal of American History. 4 91 (Review of the Radical Lives of Helen Keller). 
  3. ^ http://nationaldb.org/ISSelectedTopics.php?topicCatID=15
  4. ^ http://www.reviewpainting.com/Francisco-Goya.htm
  5. ^ Brueggman, Brenda (2006). Women & Deafness: Double Visions. Washington, D.C: Gallaudet University Press. pp. 8–35. 
  6. ^ "Notes and News", Bulletin of Prosthetics Research, Fall 1979.
  7. ^ http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/mae-brown-deaf-blind-university-student-people-overcoming-disabilities/

External links