Deafblindness

95% of what we learn comes from what we see and hear. Imagine what it must be like to be deafblind.

Deafblindness is a combination of hearing and vision loss that is unique to each person and impacts access to information, communication, and mobility.

Types of deafblindness:

• Acquired  – Acquired deafblindness is a description applied to people who experience both vision and hearing loss later in life. Losses may occur at separate times or may occur simultaneously. They may also be progressive.
• Congenital Deafblindness – Congenital deafblindness is a description applied to people who are born with both hearing and vision loss or who became deafblind before developing symbolic language.
• Age related – Adults who experience both hearing and vision loss as they age are considered to have “dual sensory loss” or “age related” deafblindness.

Over 1% of Canada’s population or approximately 466,420 people are deafblind. In Ontario, an estimated 211,250 people are deafblind.

22% or 70,080 of Ontario seniors in home care and long-term care reported experiencing vision and hearing loss combined.

For people with deafblindness, the impact of the intervenor is immeasurable.

Click here for the plain text version of the infographic.