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deaf, blind, and deafblind

Types of Deafness

Deaf

A sociological term referring to those indiviudals who are medically deaf or hard of hearing who identify with and participate in the culture, society, and language of Deaf people, which is based on Sign language.

 

Preferred method of communication is Sign.

Oral Deaf

A deaf person whose preferred mode of communication is verbal and auditory and/or lipreading.

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An oral deaf person who can both Sign and speak can be considered "Deaf" if he or she is accepted as such by other Deaf persons and uses Sign within the Deaf community.

Deafened

 

This is both a medical and a sociological term referring to individuals who have become deaf later in life and who may not be able to identify with either the Deaf or the hard of hearing 

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Manual Deaf and Signing Deaf

A deaf person whose preferred mode of communication is Sign language.

Hard of Hearing

A person whose hearing loss ranges from mild to profound and whose usual means of communication is speech.

Types of Blindness

Blindness

Lack of vision.

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It may also refer to a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

Partial Blindness

Partial blindness means you have very limited vision.

Complete Blindness

​Complete blindness means you cannot see anything and DO NOT see light.

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Most people who use the term "blindness" mean complete blindness.

Types of Deafblind

Deafblind

Deaf-blind is a term used when a person has a combination of both impaired vision and hearing.

Congenital Deafblindness

Congenital deafblindness is a term used when people are born Deafblind or when their combined hearing and vision impairment occurs before spoken, signed or other visual forms of language and communication have developed.

Dual Sensory Impairment  

Also known as dual sensory loss.

 

Dual sensory impairment refers to a combined vision and hearing impairment (or loss). Dual sensory loss or dual sensory impairment are other terms that are used to describe deafblindness.

Acquired Deafblindness

  • People who are born deaf or hard of hearing and later experience deteriorating sight.

    • Usher Syndrome for example, causes deafness or hearing impairment at birth and vision impairment later in life.

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  • People who are born vision impaired or blind and go on to experience hearing loss at a later stage.

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  • People who are born with vision and hearing that deteriorates at a later stage in their life through accident, injury or disease; for significant numbers of people the ageing process is a cause of dual sensory loss or deafblindness.

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