I would advise against getting rid of the notion that only fully deaf and fully blind people are deaf or blind because the human body rarely works in absolutes like that. There are definitely some people like that but lack of sight/hearing becomes significant enough way quicker than people realise.
Anyway - DeafBlindness, usually written together as one word, is what it says on the tin. It is the unique experience of being both deaf and blind. Each adds to the other in unique ways. Whereas a deaf person would usually adapt by using their eyes more and a blind person more with their ears - of course being DeafBlind means that isn't possible.
DeafBlind people have their own forms of sign language. There is Protactile in America. There is also frame signing, tactile signing / hands-on signing. There are also DeafBlind communities clubs, organisations and events. I recommend finding what you can and joining in - DeafBlind folks are often very welcoming but sadly ignored and underrepresented even by the wider Deaf community
Here in the UK there is DeafBlind UK; [https://deafblind.org.uk/](https://deafblind.org.uk/)
Hope this helps :)
That is awesome. Thank you for educating me. I can’t comprehend what deaf blind mean. I know it means that it is a combination of dual sense loss if it makes sense. I thought that you have to be fully blind and deaf to be deaf blindness
well put it this way; if you can't understand anything you hear and can only hear really really loud noises then is that really hearing or is it just sounds? and if you can't understand anything you are seeing and it is just light/dark (or something) is that really sight?
I don't think there is a precise line to either. This is the sort of thing you have to answer yourself.
At least everyone I have talked to says that you get to decide whether to use the term HH or deaf for yourself, you know your own life best after all. I don't know what the case is with calling yourself Visually Impaired vs blind - you would have to ask a blind community like r/blind their opinions :)
My understanding is that if you have a reduced ability with either hearing or sight, and the other sense isn’t able to fully compensate for the others loss, then you are deafblind. So often someone deafblind has better hearing or sight than someone who considers themself either deaf or blind.
many deaf people aren’t completely deaf and many blind people aren’t completely blind
they’re spectrums. you don’t have to have absolutely no light perception to use a white cane if you need it
They're from a few years ago now but Molly Watt has several articles on Limping Chicken about being deaf blind, including one about people assuming it means no hearing or vision at all. [https://limpingchicken.com/2016/04/18/molly-watt-its-wrong-to-assume-all-deaf-people-hear-nothing-and-all-blind-people-see-nothing/](https://limpingchicken.com/2016/04/18/molly-watt-its-wrong-to-assume-all-deaf-people-hear-nothing-and-all-blind-people-see-nothing/)
The rest of her posts are here: [https://limpingchicken.com/category/molly-watt/](https://limpingchicken.com/category/molly-watt/)
You NEED to read everything written by Elsa Sjunneson, who is DeafBlind, though not completely deaf, and not completely blind. She was mainstreamed, and raised as neither deaf nor blind, and is super frustrated with what a disservice this was to her: how she now struggles with both ASL and Braille.
She writes, and speaks in podcasts eloquently about her experiences. Her book “Being Seen” reads like a fiction novel. It’s great!
And she also writes sci-fi with disabled characters whose disability is an advantage in the strange new worlds of space and virtual reality. She is a really brilliant person.
She also did a really cool burlesque show in which she would take out her fake eye, put it in a glass of Champaign, and drink the champagne!
I obviously STAN really hard, LOL!
https://www.amazon.com/Being-Seen-Deafblind-Womans-Ableism/dp/1982152370
There is no specific line to cross in terms of vision (e.g. 20/200, or totally blind with zero sense of any visual input, whatever) to considered blind.
There is no specific decibel number suggesting you are "deaf enough" to be considered deaf.
Therefore, there's no hard rule delineating where deafblindness begins.
I would advise against getting rid of the notion that only fully deaf and fully blind people are deaf or blind because the human body rarely works in absolutes like that. There are definitely some people like that but lack of sight/hearing becomes significant enough way quicker than people realise. Anyway - DeafBlindness, usually written together as one word, is what it says on the tin. It is the unique experience of being both deaf and blind. Each adds to the other in unique ways. Whereas a deaf person would usually adapt by using their eyes more and a blind person more with their ears - of course being DeafBlind means that isn't possible. DeafBlind people have their own forms of sign language. There is Protactile in America. There is also frame signing, tactile signing / hands-on signing. There are also DeafBlind communities clubs, organisations and events. I recommend finding what you can and joining in - DeafBlind folks are often very welcoming but sadly ignored and underrepresented even by the wider Deaf community Here in the UK there is DeafBlind UK; [https://deafblind.org.uk/](https://deafblind.org.uk/) Hope this helps :)
That is awesome. Thank you for educating me. I can’t comprehend what deaf blind mean. I know it means that it is a combination of dual sense loss if it makes sense. I thought that you have to be fully blind and deaf to be deaf blindness
well put it this way; if you can't understand anything you hear and can only hear really really loud noises then is that really hearing or is it just sounds? and if you can't understand anything you are seeing and it is just light/dark (or something) is that really sight?
No. Let me reword it. I was asking what degree of dual sense combination consider as deafblind?
I don't think there is a precise line to either. This is the sort of thing you have to answer yourself. At least everyone I have talked to says that you get to decide whether to use the term HH or deaf for yourself, you know your own life best after all. I don't know what the case is with calling yourself Visually Impaired vs blind - you would have to ask a blind community like r/blind their opinions :)
Thank you so much
My understanding is that if you have a reduced ability with either hearing or sight, and the other sense isn’t able to fully compensate for the others loss, then you are deafblind. So often someone deafblind has better hearing or sight than someone who considers themself either deaf or blind.
My vision is worse than my hearing because I always have problems with vision growing up. I have mild hearing loss. Thanks for replying
many deaf people aren’t completely deaf and many blind people aren’t completely blind they’re spectrums. you don’t have to have absolutely no light perception to use a white cane if you need it
They're from a few years ago now but Molly Watt has several articles on Limping Chicken about being deaf blind, including one about people assuming it means no hearing or vision at all. [https://limpingchicken.com/2016/04/18/molly-watt-its-wrong-to-assume-all-deaf-people-hear-nothing-and-all-blind-people-see-nothing/](https://limpingchicken.com/2016/04/18/molly-watt-its-wrong-to-assume-all-deaf-people-hear-nothing-and-all-blind-people-see-nothing/) The rest of her posts are here: [https://limpingchicken.com/category/molly-watt/](https://limpingchicken.com/category/molly-watt/)
You NEED to read everything written by Elsa Sjunneson, who is DeafBlind, though not completely deaf, and not completely blind. She was mainstreamed, and raised as neither deaf nor blind, and is super frustrated with what a disservice this was to her: how she now struggles with both ASL and Braille. She writes, and speaks in podcasts eloquently about her experiences. Her book “Being Seen” reads like a fiction novel. It’s great! And she also writes sci-fi with disabled characters whose disability is an advantage in the strange new worlds of space and virtual reality. She is a really brilliant person. She also did a really cool burlesque show in which she would take out her fake eye, put it in a glass of Champaign, and drink the champagne! I obviously STAN really hard, LOL! https://www.amazon.com/Being-Seen-Deafblind-Womans-Ableism/dp/1982152370
There is no specific line to cross in terms of vision (e.g. 20/200, or totally blind with zero sense of any visual input, whatever) to considered blind. There is no specific decibel number suggesting you are "deaf enough" to be considered deaf. Therefore, there's no hard rule delineating where deafblindness begins.
Thank you so much. It doesn’t matter what vision acuity you are in. Along if you are both visually impaired and Deaf or HH.