What is DeafBlindness?
DeafBlindness is one of the least understood of all disabilities. “The deafblind child is not a blind child who cannot hear or a deaf child who cannot see.” (DeafBlind Infants and Children, J.M. McInnes & J.A. Treffry, 1982)
Either a hearing loss or a vision loss alone has a significant impact on learning and development. A child with a vision loss – must rely more upon hearing to compensate for the lack of available visual information. A child with a hearing loss – must rely more upon vision to compensate for the lack of available auditory information. The important thing is that for these children, one of their distance senses will compensate for the lack of the other one.
For children with both vision and hearing loss, neither sense can adequately compensate for the lack of the other. The natural flow of visual and auditory information does not happen. Bits and pieces of information may be available, but these will be incomplete, distorted, and/or unreliable. The incidental information that sighted and hearing children receive without effort is not readily accessible to those with combined losses.
DeafBlindness creates a disability of access to the visual and auditory information about the environment (people, things, events) that is necessary for learning, communication, and overall development. Instead of effortlessly receiving a flow of information like others, these students must work to attend, gather, and interpret partial amounts of information which are often distorted and incomplete. Without clear and consistent information, the brain cannot function normally and learning cannot occur naturally. As a result, students who are deafblind have a difficult time connecting with and understanding the world, and often experience significant isolation and limited opportunities for self-determination (Alsop, Blaha, & Kloos, 2002; Robinson et al., 2000).
The Intervener
Helen Keller, the most well-known individual with deafblindness in the United States, benefited from constant one-to-one services provided by Anne Sullivan. Although not called an “intervener”, Sullivan gave Helen access to information about people and things in her environment. This was critical to her ability to learn, communicate, and function in the world. Today, students who are deafblind can receive the same services that Helen Keller received from individuals with training and specialized skills in deafblindness. These individuals are called interveners.
An Intervener is a person who:
- Has training and specialized skills in deafblindness.
The Role of the Intervener is to:
- Facilitate access to the environmental information that is usually gained through vision and hearing, but which is unavailable or incomplete to the child who is deafblind.
- Develop and maintain a trusting, interactive relationship that can promote social and emotional well‐being for the child who is deafblind.
Intervener Training
Through a federal grant, an online Intervener training program was developed by SKI-HI Institute staff and is offered through Utah State University. The Intervener Training Program is based on the CEC Approved Specialization Knowledge and Skill Set for Paraeducators who are Interveners for Individuals with DeafBlindness. In the program students must complete 10 hours of coursework in DeafBlindness and a practicum. To learn more about this program, visit the website intervener.org. Look under the menu choice "Training Credential".
For more information about these DeafBlind programs at the Institute, contact Linda Alsop: linda.alsop@usu.edu. For additional resources see the intervener.org website.
