Deafblind Awareness Week (26th June to 2nd July 2023) Theme – Tune in to your sight and hearing. We’re here for everyone living with deafblindness – right from day one.
Sharing information about Helen Keller Day – 27th June
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
Every year, Deafblind people and children celebrate the special day – Helen Keller Day- a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of Helen Keller.
Imagine it would be difficult or scary to live in the house or community as a person becomes Deafblind later in life!
If a Deafblind person from birth, it would not be a problem to live with the struggle to get around in the community throughout life.
A cousin on my father’s side family is blind in one eye while the other eye will become blind. He mastered his skill by accepting that he would be blind one day, but his blindness did not stop him from doing anything. He learnt to do Braille early until the technology came along. One of the earliest memories is when I stayed with my grandparent at the holiday bach, and he would be there to tease me by leaving the eyeball on the bench, removing the eyeball for cleaning or in the glass of water.
One hearing person struggles to accept the coming of losing both eyesight as she faces fear and loss of coping around the house and in the community. She does not like using Braille; she prefers extensive font print reading material and talking voice-over technology and uses a walking cane.
In the past, I was doing home visits in Cambridge and often took part in the activity – Deaf Christian Fellowship for many years. A lovely couple, Barry and Elsa, migrated from the UK for a new life in New Zealand after the 1960s. Elsa was deaf, and she communicated in UK sign language. Later she suffered from losing eyesight gradually from time to time, and she learnt to use tactile sign language and read Braille she used around the house. Elsa was a strong Christian lady over the years, and Elsa was not afraid of going to be a Deafblind person. Elsa knew the Lord was always with her throughout her life. Elsa knew Barry would be constantly worried, taking his time out and ensuring she was okay around the home. She struggled to master the new technology, such as large font reader equipment and mobile with a large screen and font size.
World Population Affected by Deafblindness (2018) – 467,687,924
What is life like for a Deafblind person?
“A deafblind person won’t usually be totally deaf and totally blind, but both senses will be reduced enough to cause significant difficulties in everyday life.
These problems can occur even if hearing loss and vision loss are mild, as the senses work together and one would usually help compensate for the loss of the other.”
Many Deafblind people with this dual disability can create a sense of isolation and frustration in the community and the rest of the world. In New Zealand, a small group – Deafblind Association NZ Charitable Trust, was established in 2014. The Deafblind Association NZ is not for profit; they do not get funding from the central Government. Yes, they have the right to require source funding to finance the support it provides, and it is a critical need as the aged population is higher than anyone thought.
In Oceania, the percentage of three different groups:
- Mild deafblindness – 85356
- Severe deafblindness – 85356
- Deafblindness due to ageing (>75) – 2560669
Please watch the work by the World Federation of the Deafblind on Youtube and the link here.
Blind Low Vision NZ link here https://blindlowvision.org.nz/news/celebrating-deafblind-awareness-week-27-june-3-july/
