People who are deaf-blind have problems of communication, mobility and other daily living skills that are unique and make independent living more dificult to achieve. It can be a dark, silent and isolating world.

The term "deaf-blind" doesn't necessarily mean total lack of hearing and vision. Some people who are deaf-blind are partially "hearing and visually impaired." They may have enough hearing to understand speech, especially when using a hearing aid, and may have some usable vision with or without corrective lenses. "Legal blindness" is defined as the ability to see at a distance of 20 feet what a normally sighted person can see at 200 feet , or to have peripheral vision that is restricted to 20 degrees or less (like tunnel vision). However deaf-blindness does mean that the combination of impairments of both senses interferes with the ability of a person to function effectively in the "hearing-sighted" world. (Facts about Deaf-Blindness, Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adult (HKNC).)

• Technology -- Access to word processing, portable note taking devices, and regular and labtop computer terminals is made possible by devices with magnified screen text and braille displays as well as speech output systems. Electronic braille embrossers produce high quality/high speed braille. Optical character recognition scanners "read" standard print and convert it to voice or braille. Television closed captioned programs are accessible with braille displays. U.S. paper money can be identified with a portable device which "announces" the denomination by voice and vibration.
• Reading nd writing in BRAILLE and LARGE PRINT.
• PRINT-ON-PALM -- tracing capital block letters on another's palm, using the index finger.
• Fingerspelling -- a series of finger and knuckle positions, each representing a single letter, often referred to as the MANUAL ALPHABET.
• American Sign Language (ASL) -- the primary language of many people who are deaf-blind. ASL is visual, gestural and has no structural to English.
• The Tellatouch -- a portable machine that permits one person o type a message on a regular keyboard while the person who is deaf-blind receives the message on a braille cell on the back on this device.
• The Optacon -- a reading device which converts the image of a printed letter into a vibrating tactile form felt with one finger.
• The CCTV -- a closed circuit television which enlarges print in various sizes.

Last updated: February 2, 2002