There are spelling variances for the term, Deaf-blind, which can be (1) DeafBlind, (2) Deaf-blind, (3) Deafblind, (4) Deaf Blind, and (4) Deaf-Blind. The following
spelling by the American Association of Deaf-Blind and The National Center on Deaf-Blindness was preferred. The use of the capital D emphasizes the Deaf cultural aspect, while the hyphen “–” connects the blindness/vision loss the persons experience.
Deaf-blind people are often overlooked when it comes to being in ministry. They are frequently missing from the pews, but they too are meant to be part of the church. People with hearing and vision loss need accommodations just like the rest of the Deaf and/or hearing community. The term ‘Deaf-blind’ can be somewhat misleading, because of the misconception that a person is fully blind and fully Deaf – this is not always the case. Deaf-blind individuals vary in hearing and visual loss, which means there is not one specific method for provision of accommodations. Meeting with the Deaf-blind individual beforehand in order to learn what accommodations are needed is recommended.
The term ‘Deaf-blind’ describes a condition that combines in varying degrees both hearing and visual loss. Two sensory losses multiply and intensify the impact each would have alone and create a severe disability, which is different and unique. There are four basic types of Deaf-blindness: (1) Being blind first and deaf later, (2) being deaf first and blind later, (3) being born deaf and blind, and (4) and being suddenly deaf and blind later in life (perhaps from an accident or an illness). These categories tell the world about how the Deaf-blind person will communicate. In general, Deaf-blind people experience problems with communications (having barriers), access to information, and mobility. However, their specific needs vary enormously according to age, onset, their communication modality, and type of Deaf-blindness.
While not all Deafblind persons use sign language, as some may have some hearing loss and some vision loss, there are some Deafblind persons who use tactile sign language puts his or her hands over the signer’s hands to feel the shape, movement and location of the signs. Some signs and facial expressions may need to be modified (for example, signing “not understand” instead of signing “understand” and shaking one’s head; spelling “dog” rather than signing “dog”). People can use one-handed or two-handed tactile sign language. People who grew up using ASL in the deaf community may prefer tactile ASL, while others who came from an oral background or learned signs later may prefer a more English-based tactile system.
