Enabling children with deafblindness and multiple disabilities to learn, communicate and enhance their mobility.

Deafblindness is combination of varying degrees of both hearing as well as visual impairment in a person. The severity of these dual sensory losses varies from person to person but, in combination, these impairments of the distant senses cause serious developmental delays in the child, affecting cognitive development, social development, acquisition of communication and language skills, orientation and mobility.

Therefore, children with deafblindness and multiple disabilities have a unique style of learning. Most of the time, they require to ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ in order to become familiar with their surroundings. Unlike mainstream education, their teaching learning materials are prepared for them to ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ for better concept formation and understand the ‘meaning’ of different activities. As they have varying degrees of residual vision and hearing, it can be used for their day-to-day activities. However, the challenge revolves around availability of these essential teaching and learning materials, toys, and need based assistive devices.

With the help of specialized learning material and toys, a child will begin to understand his/her environment. Learning toys with different textures, lights and sounds helps the child with deafblindness to use his/her residual vision and hearing to understand shapes and various concepts. Assistive devices like hearing aids, low vision aids, crutches, magnifiers, smart cane, etc. helps to develop their communication and mobility as well. 

To provide children and adults with deafblindness and multiple disabilities with specialized learning material and toys to become familiar with his/her environment. Learning toys with different textures, lights and sounds helps the child with deafblindness to use his/her residual vision and hearing to understand shapes and various concepts. Also, provide assistive devices like hearing aids, low vision aids, crutches, magnifiers, smart cane, etc. to develop their communication and mobility as well.

It will allow use of hearing and residual vision to optimum with an improved learning and understanding of objects and environment around them. They will be able to use their other senses and acquire the skills to learn to communicate. It will develop fine motor skills, sensory skills, cognition and communication of the child. With Assistive devices they will become independent and perform well in their day-to-day activities.