Deafblind Awareness Day – Helen Keller’s Day
The theme for DeafBlind Awareness Week and Helen Keller awareness events in 2026 is “Connected by Touch: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.” The Helen Keller National Centre and its national partners are leading this campaign to demonstrate the importance of touch for communication, access, and daily life in the DeafBlind community. [1, 2]
Before Helen Keller, two other deaf-blind women made a big impact on her life and inspired hope for people with disabilities. All three women were also connected to Julia Ward Howe, the suffrage leader and author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” https://suffragettecity100.com/wcw26
International Day of Deafblindness – 27 June
Deafblind people face challenges because their disability is often not seen as unique. This lack of recognition means they are often left out of statistics, policies, and programs, making it harder for them to access the services they need.
Professional deafblind interpreters and guides are vital for helping people access information, communicate, use services, and enjoy their rights. They also enable deafblind people to live independently and participate in the community.
The General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/79/294, proclaiming 27 June of each year the International Day of Deafblindness. This day commemorates the birth of renowned author Helen Keller (1880 – 1968), one of the most iconic figures in the deafblindness community.
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Last year, I had cataracts and glaucoma in both eyes while already living as a deaf person with disabilities. Because I work as a deaf community liaison and advocate and need a sign language interpreter for meetings, Zoom calls, and video chats, I spent four months waiting for help. I wrote about my experiences in a personal blog, describing how I managed daily life, work, and reading captions on TV. It was a big challenge, and I realised that many others, especially seniors, might not expect or fully understand these health problems. Over a year ago, I received double implant lenses, which made my recovery much easier. I still use eye drops for my right eye to keep the pressure down, as my ophthalmologist recommends.
“Connected by Touch: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.”
Helen Keller was not the first deafblind person, but she became known worldwide for her achievements. Laura Bridgman, who came before her, lived a more private life. Before them, there was Julia Brace (1807–1884), born in Connecticut, USA.
Let’s look at Julia Brace’s life. How did she communicate with her family and friends after she lost her ability to speak at age five due to typhoid fever?
Her parents, John and Rachel Brace, were, according to Lydia Sigourney, ‘exceedingly poor,’ her father being a cobbler of very modest circumstances.
“Signs were devised for communicating elemental needs and commands, and for such emotions as approval and pleasure–and their opposites. As her strength returned, she began to explore familiar surroundings anew, using her sense of touch and an apparently unusually keen sense of smell to orient herself and move with assurance around the household and her father’s shop. She learned to weave small articles from the scraps of leather discarded by his trade and to assist with simple household chores…..
A notation on her official record at the Hartford Asylum states that Julia Brace ‘never received much instruction here’; but this, in the light of our broader contemporary views of education, would seem to be a masterpiece of understatement. In terms of academic instruction alone, the official record is probably an accurate statement of fact. Julia was taught to manipulate wooden letters and pins on a cushion to produce words, and she learned to associate words with objects. But there seems to have been little attempt made in the 1820s and 1830’s to carry her intellectual training beyond that point. The usual explanation in the surviving sources can be summarised as the prevailing belief that further training would yield her no appreciable benefit. From that point of view, it would, of course, be difficult to justify the cost of the extensive personal attention required to progress further with an individual well through her teens before the experiment was begun. But she had learned to communicate, apparently with considerable proficiency, in the arbitrary signs commonly used in the deaf community, for these she could receive and transmit by touch. The degree to which she had mastered this mode of communication is attested in an anecdote recorded by Matron Dudley in an 1837 reminiscence:
One year from her enrollment at Perkins, Julia Brace returned to Hartford to resume her life as a paying boarder at the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb.19 There she lived quietly until around 1860, when she left the asylum to take up residence with a married sister in Bloomfield, Connecticut. There she died on 12 August 1884 and was buried in the West Hill Cemetery. Her grave is unmarked, and her name is all but forgotten:”https://www.dartmouth.edu/library/Library_Bulletin/Nov1992/LB-N92-Wait.html
https://www.startasl.com/famous-deaf-blind-julia-brace-laura-bridgman-and-helen-keller
If you want to learn about Deafblind Sign Language, there are many ways the Deafblind community communicates. This is because people have different types and levels of vision and hearing loss, and some may have other disabilities as well. This means that sometimes, Deafblind people cannot connect meaningfully with others without communication support.
The most common forms of communication used by Deafblind people in Australia are:
- Alternative and augmented communication, including touch cues/social haptics, pictographs and keyword signs
- Auslan (Australian Sign Language), including a variety of ways of receiving sign language, such as visual frame, tracking and tactile/hand over hand
- Deafblind fingerspelling
- Oral and aural communication (speaking and listening)
- Printed words or Braille, including print on palm and electronic communications such as email and text message (SMS).
Modified sign language
The Deafblind community uses several different types of sign-based communication.
There are four main types of Auslan interpreting: Platform, Visual frame, Tracking, and Tactile or hand-over-hand. Deafblind fingerspelling is also used.
- Platform: This type of interpreting is used at conferences or public events, where the signing interpreter can be seen from a distance. It is often preferred by people whose vision is still good enough that they do not need a modified setup.
- Visual frame: This is similar to Platform interpreting, but the interpreter stands closer to the person or group so their signing stays within the person’s limited visual field. Signs made outside this area cannot be seen, so staying close helps keep the signing visible.
- Tracking: When someone’s visual field is very small, they may hold the interpreter’s wrists while receiving information. The signs are still visible, but the person keeps hold of the interpreter’s wrists to ensure the signs stay within their limited field of vision.
- Tactile or hand-over-hand: This method uses Auslan in a way that works for people who no longer have enough vision to see signs. The Deafblind person sits across from the interpreter and places their hands on top of the interpreter’s hands to feel the signs and get the information.
- Deafblind Deafblind fingerspelling: This is the Deafblind Manual Alphabet, also known as Deafblind Fingerspelling or Tactile Fingerspelling. It is a version of the Auslan alphabet meant to be felt rather than seen. Words are spelled out letter by letter into a person’s palm to help with communication. Here is a screenshot of the Deafblind alphabet.
