Hearing and visual impairment and deafblindness
Sight and hearing are the two key senses that allow us to perceive our environment. These senses complement one another. Our ability to orientate ourselves, communicate and obtain information about what is happening around us is heavily dependent on these senses. When both senses are impaired, this is referred to as a hearing and visual impairment or deafblindness.
In many situations, blind people can help themselves by listening carefully to what is being said or by asking other people to explain or describe something. Deaf people can obtain a lot of information by watching carefully what is happening, using sign language or reading background information. Therefore, people who are blind or deaf rely on using the other sense and appropriate strategies. People with a hearing and visual impairment cannot use one of the two senses to compensate for the lack of the other or at best can only do this to a limited extent. They need to use new and often challenging strategies and have to accept that these will only be partially successful.