Sensory Impairment
Dual Sensory Impairment
Practical advice and information for anyone involved or
interested in deafblindness/dual sensory
impairment
Information for
people who are Deafblind/Dual Sensory Impaired
Dual Sensory impairment/Deafblindness is the combined loss of
vision and hearing. Few people have a total loss of both vision and
hearing; others have some remaining use of one or both senses. Dual
Sensory impairment can also be called deafblindness. It can occur
from birth, (congenital), or later on in life (acquired) as a
result of illness, age, accident or genetic conditions. The unique
nature of dual sensory impairment means that people with the
condition face difficulties with:
- Communication
- Mobility
- Access to information
Dual sensory impairment can often result in people feeling
isolated and lonely. The combined vision and hearing loss can
result in difficulties getting out and about, doing shopping,
meeting friends or accessing information. Some people with dual
sensory impairment may not be able to use the telephone, identify
that there is someone at the door, or tell the time and may rely
heavily on families and carers to support them. They may also have
difficulties in following current affairs on the television and in
newspapers, or accessing other sources of information such as
transport timetables and price lists.
Because the challenges facing people with a dual sensory
impairment are unique, the services provided for this group of
people need to be equally specialised. The combined loss often
leads to complex difficulties, requiring specialist support. People
with a dual sensory impairment need to be identified, recognised
and have their needs assessed appropriately. They may also choose
to be registered as having a dual sensory loss to access the
specialist services that they may be entitled to, but this is not a
requirement to accessing services. An individual approach to
services is taken due to the nature of the condition, as each
person will have different levels of combined vision and hearing
loss and will function very differently as a result of this.
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