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It may seem that deaf-blindness refers to a total inability to see or hear. However, in reality deaf-blindness is a condition in which the combination of hearing and visual losses in children and youth cause "such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness" [34 CFR 300.8(c)(2)] or multiple disabilities.

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Links updated, September 2020
In This Publication...
About Deaf-Blindness

There are approximately roughly 45,000 to 50,000 individuals in the U.S who are deaf-blind. [ 1] According to the 2018 National Deaf-Blind Child Count, over 11,000 are children under the age of 21.

The word "deaf-blindness" may seem as if a person cannot hear or see at all. The term actually describes a person who has some degree of loss in both vision and hearing. The amount of loss in either vision or hearing will vary from person to person.

Our nation's special education law, the IDEA, defines "deaf-blindness" as:

...concomitant [simultaneous] hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness. [§300.8(c)(2)]

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness observes that the "key feature of deaf-blindness is that the combination of losses limits access to auditory and visual information." [ 3] This can severely limit an individual's natural opportunities to learn and communicate with others.

Finding Help for Children with Deaf-Blindness

Children birth to age 3 | Very young children (birth up to age 3) who are deaf-blind are typically eligible for early intervention services under the Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities program of IDEA (also called Part C). These services are extremely important to children with deaf-blindness and their families, for the services are designed to address the child's developmental and learning needs. Parents are involved in deciding what services their child and family need to address the challenges of deaf-blindness. Services are either provided free of charge to families or on a sliding cost scale based on the family's income.

To find the early intervention program in your area, ask your pediatrician or get in touch with the pediatric unit of a nearby hospital. Say that you're looking for a referral to early intervention or Child Find for a baby or toddler. They'll put you in touch with a program near you.

School-age children, including preschoolers | When children with deaf-blindness reach the age of 3, they transition into special education services under Part B of IDEA. Special education services are provided free through the public school system. Even if a child with deaf-blindness is not in school yet (for example, a four-year-old), the school system is still responsible for making sure that special education and related services are available to the child.

Because deaf-blindness causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs, it's very important for children with deaf-blindness to receive special education and related services to address their individual needs. You can find out more about these services and how to access them by contacting the local elementary school in your area.

Rather than duplicate the excellent work of others, the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) is pleased to connect you with an array of information and assistance already available on deaf-blindness. What's listed below is not exhaustive, but will certainly lead you to the founts of experience and knowledge that will be very helpful in addressing the challenges associated with deaf-blindness.

Resource Section

We've divided the resource section into several parts to speed you to information relevant to your concerns. Browse all the resources or jump to the type of resources you're looking for.

About deaf-blindness

FAQs about deaf-blindness.
http://www.aadb.org/FAQ/faq_DeafBlindness.html

What is deaf blindness?
https://nationaldb.org/library/list/3

How many children are we talking about?
https://nationaldb.org/library/list/7

Information about deaf-blindness. Personal insights and information from an individual with deaf-blindness.
http://www.deafblind.com/info-db.html

How do deaf-blind people communicate?
http://www.aadb.org/factsheets/db_communications.html

The Deafblind Manual Alphabet.
http://www.deafblind.com/card.html

Finding Services in Your State

Visit the American Association of the Deaf-Blind.
AADB provides a listing of state and local organizations for deaf-blind people and also a listing of service and rehabilitation agencies around the country. http://www.aadb.org/resources/resources.html

The Experts on Deaf-Blindness

National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)
http://www.nationaldb.org

Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC)
http://www.hknc.org

American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB)
http://www.aadb.org

Deafblind International
http://www.deafblindinternational.org/

In Children's Early Years

How to engage your child in the early years.
https://www.nationaldb.org/for-families/learning-resources/family-topics/engage-your-child-early-years/

Early interactions with children who are deaf-blind.
https://nationaldb.org/library/page/2062
Also available in Spanish and in Indonesian.

Communication fact sheets for parents.
https://nationaldb.org/library/list/14

School Matters

Considerations when teaching students who are deaf-blind (NETAC Teacher Tipsheet).
https://webapps.ou.edu/ods/cds/MADTools/print/pdf/tpshtdb.pdf

Deaf-blindness: Educational service guidelines.
This best practice guide is designed to help states, districts, schools and practitioners in supporting students who are deafblind and their families. Available in English and Spanish from the Perkins School for the Blind.

Transition to Adulthood for Students Who Are Deaf-Blind

Transition toolkit: Enhancing self-determination for young adults who are deaf-blind.
https://nationaldb.org/library/page/2297

And more on self-determination. https://nationaldb.org/library/list/66

For Administrators

DB 101.
Working with students who are deaf-blind? Need to train staff and paraprofessionals? Consult these two sections at the National Center on Deaf-Blindness for a wealth of information for both teachers and administrators:

Educational Practices
https://www.nationaldb.org/info-center/educational-practices/

Interveners and Qualified Personnel
https://www.nationaldb.org/national-initiatives/iqp/

Resources in Spanish

Visit the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, where you'll find a wealth of information in Spanish on deaf-blindness.
https://www.nationaldb.org/for-families/learning-resources/recursos-para-familias/

English/Spanish Specialized Deaf-Blind Glossary/Espanol Glosario Especializado En Sordoceguera.
https://documents.nationaldb.org/products/esgloss.pdf

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1 | Gallaudet University Library. (2010). American deaf-blind population. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from: http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=119476&sid=1029203

2 | National Center on Deaf-Blindness. (2019, December). The 2018 national child count of children and youth who are deaf-blind. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from:
https://www.nationaldb.org/media/doc/2018_National_Deaf-Blind_Child_Count_Report_FINAL_a.pdf

3 | National Center on Deaf-Blindness. (2007, November). Children who are deaf-blind. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from: https://www.nationaldb.org/media/doc/Children_Who_Are_Deaf-Blind_a.pdf
See fact sheets on other disabilities

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Links updated, September 2020 In This Publication... There are approximately roughly 45,000 to 50,000 individuals in the U.S who are deaf-blind. [ 1] According to the 2018 National Deaf-Blind Child Count, over 11,000 are children under the age of 21. The word "deaf-blindness" may seem as if a person cannot hear or see at all.

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Resources for families with Deaf, Blind, or DeafBlind Children

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Aspects of the individualized education program (IEP) include specialized instruction, accommodations, and modifications. Accommodations and modifications are not the same, although some people use the terms interchangeably. Accommodations are changes and supports provided to enable access to the same school work and education as other students. A modification means the school work or education for a given student is different from what the other students in the class are doing. Accommodations and adaptations are the same thing. Some examples of accommodations include the following:

Captioning or subtitles on class videos or clips;

A copy of information that will be displayed on overhead, whiteboard, or chalk board;

An assigned note taker (students who are D/HH may have to look at interpreters or written content, which means it can be challenging to split focus for notes);

Strategic seating to allow your child to sit where they are best able to hear and/or see the teacher, classmates and/or interpreter, moving seats depending on the lesson or activity;

Extended time on testing or assignments;

Assistive technology;

An assigned educational interpreter.

Accommodations may also include changes to the classroom environment, presentation of instruction, and assessments in order to provide full access to students who are D/HH.

Modifications include changes to the level or expectations of an assignment or environment. Examples of modifications include:

Outlining instead of writing an essay for a particular project;

Using an alternate book or material for a topic being taught;

Word bank of choices for answers to tests when others do not have that option;

Reworded questions to match your child's language level;

Providing a calculator for tests when it is not an option for other students;

Please note: Each individual student is different and may require more or less accommodations or modifications than listed above.

Accommodations and modifications can be identified and justified through assessments and evaluations. For example, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) requires a comprehensive eye exam within three months of receiving special education services. The results of this eye exam may indicate that a student needs to sit in the front row in order to see the board (accommodation). Or, the results of an audiological evaluation can indicate that an appropriate accommodation to provide access to education is a Frequency Modulation/Digital Modulation (FM/DM) system. The multi-factored evaluation report may be another source of data to justify accommodations or modifications. Lastly, the "Guidelines for the Assessment and Educational Evaluation of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing," provides various assessments that may be used as data to plan accommodations and modifications.

Want to learn more about the differences between accommodations and modifications?
Understood.org details the differences here.

Hear from parent advocate Amanda Morin on the difference between accommodations and modifications, and how each one impacts your child's experience in the classroom

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The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness

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MedEd Connections Resource Guide: Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) | The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness

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The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness

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Allyant - Simple. Seamless. Accessibility.

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Why are Braille Keyboards Useful: 5 Advantages of Braille Keyboards

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Learning braille allows blind and visually impaired people to understand how text is formatted on a page. Unlike listening to a screen reader, which narrates the contents of pages to users, braille documents teach people where text is located on different pages

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Communication Technology for Persons Who Are Deafblind

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Etiology-Specific Information and Organizations

There are many organizations that provide information and support to individuals and families with specific conditions (etiologies) often associated with deaf-blindness.
Find info and organizations

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There are many organizations that provide information and support to individuals and families with specific conditions (etiologies) often associated with deaf-blindness. Find info and organizations

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Boy who is deaf and blind discovers the power of music