Deafblindness

Also called Dual sensory loss, Multi-sensory impairment

Combined sight and hearing loss. Not one plus the other, because each normally compensates for the other.

What it is

Deafblindness is not simply the sum of two impairments, and understanding why is the whole point of this entry.

People with hearing loss compensate by watching. People with sight loss compensate by listening. When both are affected, each strategy is unavailable, and the effect is multiplied rather than added.

An estimated 450,000 people in the UK are deafblind, and that number is rising with the ageing population. Most are older people with age-related loss of both senses, not people born deafblind.

Local authorities have a specific duty to identify, assess and support deafblind people under statutory guidance, and it is widely unmet.

Signs you might notice

Withdrawal from conversation and from group settings, which gets recorded as low mood or cognitive decline.

Difficulty in unfamiliar environments, and increasing reluctance to leave home.

Startling when touched, because there was no warning available.

Confusion that seems worse in noisy or dim environments.

In care settings: a person described as uncooperative who has not perceived the request at all.

How it can affect day-to-day life

Deafblindness is the condition most often mistaken for dementia. A person who cannot hear a question or see a gesture appears confused, and the record says so.

Isolation is profound. Communication requires deliberate technique, so casual contact falls away almost completely.

Usher syndrome is the commonest genetic cause and combines deafness from birth with progressive sight loss, so a young person's world narrows over years, which is a very different situation from age-related dual loss.

Supporting someone well

Announce yourself by touch and by name every time you approach, and say when you are leaving. Being spoken to by an unidentified person, or left mid-sentence, is disorientating and undignified.

Use clear print, high contrast and good lighting, and reduce background noise. Do both, not one.

Learn the person's preferred communication: it may be clear speech, block letters on the palm, hands-on signing, or a communicator guide.

Check glasses and hearing aids daily. In dual sensory loss the margin is zero, and a flat hearing-aid battery removes half of somebody's access to the world.

Ask the local authority for a specialist deafblind assessment by name, and cite the statutory guidance if you are offered a generic one.

Fiducia Talk supports large high-contrast symbols and switch access, which for some people with dual sensory loss provides a route that speech alone does not.

Where to get help

Deafblind UK run a helpline on 0800 132320, and Sense provide specialist assessment and communicator guides.

Ask the local authority for an assessment by someone trained in deafblindness.

Any sudden change in either sense needs urgent assessment.