Deaf-blindness is a rare condition impairing a person’s sense of hearing and vision, restricting their ability to access auditory and visual information. It is also known as “multi-sensory impairment” or “dual sensory loss.” A deaf-blind individual isn’t always completely deaf and blind; however, both senses are impaired enough to cause substantial problems in daily living.
What causes Deaf-Blindness?
A variety of factors can cause deaf-blindness. For example, premature birth, delivery complications, and various congenital disorders, many of which are pretty rare, are all present or occur around the time a child is born. In addition, genetic diseases, meningitis, brain injury, can all induce deaf-blindness later in life.
Here are the other causes of deaf-blindness-
| Hereditary Syndromes/Disorders | Examples: CHARGE SyndromeUsher syndrome Down syndrome(Trisomy 21 syndrome) |
| Prenatal complications | Examples: Cytomegalovirus HydrocephalyMicrocephaly |
| Postnatal complications | Examples: AsphyxiaSevere Head InjuryMeningitis |
Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Week
Helen Keller’s birthday, June 27th, is commemorated as a deaf-blind week during the last week of June.
Helen Keller, born deaf and blind, set her course in the 1880s. Despite all the difficulties, she never gave up, thus inspiring deaf-blind people and their caregivers worldwide. Even today, deaf-blind people confront numerous challenges in life; and we must work together as a community to help them succeed in their careers and communicate with them to help them find their life’s purpose.
Identifying Deaf-Blindness in Children
Both the beginning and the end of a child’s schooling necessitate extra care. Parents and caregivers must identify early children who show signs of deaf-blindness when their brains are most receptive to learning so that they can get appropriate assistance as infants and toddlers. To assess and educate deaf-blind newborns, kids, youth, families, and educators must access training and assistance.
When a child reaches their teens, it’s essential to start carefully planning and preparing for a successful transition to employment, post-secondary education, and community life once they graduate from high school.
Signs of Deaf-blindness
Through deaf-blindness is most frequently seen in elders, it can affect anyone regardless of age, including babies and small children. The deaf-blindness onset can be gradual in seniors, and they may not even begin to realize their vision and/or hearing is deteriorating.
The other signs of a deaf-blindness onset can include:
- Demanding an increase in the volume of the television or radio.
- Experiencing difficulties to follow a discussion due to everyday noises such as a knock at the door or a car horn necessitating others to talk loudly, carefully, and clearly.
- Holding books or newspapers very close to their eyes to read.
- Facing troubles in getting about in new places.
Besides, if someone already has a hearing or vision problem, their caregivers must keep an eye out for warning signals if their other senses are deteriorating.
Seeing your Doctor on Gigadocs
It’s recommended to seek deaf-blindness help right away because treatment for some of the underlying causes of deaf-blindness is more effective if started early. A thorough diagnosis will also ensure the person is sooner able to access prescriptive medications. If you believe your hearing or vision is deteriorating, you should seek medical advice. Besides, if you are worried about a friend or family member, encourage them to discuss their symptoms with an eye and ear specialist on the user-friendly Gigadocs app at their convenience.
Gigadocs helps you to book specialists and consult them at ease from your home for deaf-blindness, seasonal illness, chronic illness, and non-chronic illness. Our patrons can even collect points for each activity they undertake and redeem them for discounts while availing their consultation services on the Gigadocs app.
Book a Virtual Consultation- Download the Gigadocs app from-
- IOS App – apple.co/2W2iG4V
- Android App – bit.ly/33AQoRC
To know more and schedule a Virtual Consultation demo, e-mail, at info@gigadocs.com.
