This week kicks off DeafBlind Awareness Week, an annual event to raise awareness for and celebrate the achievements of people living with sight and hearing loss.
Held the last week of June, DeafBlind Awareness Week commemorates the birthday of Helen Keller, born on June 27.
This year’s event is June 26, 2022 through July 2, 2022.
Keller became deaf and blind due to a childhood illness. She was an activist and disability rights advocate; Keller was the first deafblind person to earn a college degree.
What to Know about DeafBlindness
Also known as dual-sensory loss and dual-sensory impairment, deafblindness can affect anyone.
Deafblindness means you have both sight and hearing loss that affects your life. It doesn’t mean you have no sight and no hearing.
It’s a spectrum; there are many different levels of loss.
There are two types of deafblindness:
- Congenital deafblindness: you are born deafblind
- Acquired deafblindness: you become deafblind later in life
Did you know a red and white cane indicates deafblindness?
White canes are commonly used by blind or visually-impaired people.
But when you see someone with a red and white striped cane, that means the person has a hearing impairment as well as sight loss.
Deafblindness isn’t obvious. You can’t always tell by looking at someone that they’re deafblind.
Get Involved
As an individual or organization, you can learn more about and help raise awareness of deafblindness.
Read articles, share resources online, or highlight special events about deafblindness.
Here are a few resources I discovered.
- Helen Keller National Center DeafBlind Awareness Week 2022
- National Centre for Deafblindness Deafblind Awareness Week 2022
- Annette Piggott, senior client advocate at DeafBlind Ontario Services discusses misconceptions about people with deafblindness
- Sense Deafblind Awareness Week 2022
- Download Helen Keller National Center DeafBlind Awareness poster (PDF: 132KB)
- Download Deafblind UK Awareness Week poster (PNG: 2.4MB)
- Show support by sharing info and resources on social media using the #DeafblindAwarenessWeek hashtag
Summary
DeafBlind Awareness Week aims to raise awareness and celebrate people living with sight and hearing loss.
Get involved: learn more about and share what you’ve learned about deafblindness!
