Definitions
Deaf-Blindness
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines deafblindness:
“Deaf-blindness [sic] means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness” (Sec. 300.8 (c) (2)).
More on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Dual Sensory Impairment
“Dual Sensory Impairment” (DSI) is another term often used interchangably with “deafblindness.”
Florida regulations define Dual Sensory Impairment:
“A student who has a dual-sensory impairment affecting both vision and hearing, the combination of which causes a serious impairment in the abilities to acquire information, communicate, or function within the environment, or who has a degenerative condition which will lead to such an impairment” (Rule 6A-6.03022).
DeafBlindness
“In 1991, the International Association for the Education of the Deafblind (now known as Deafblind International) resolved to adopt this spelling rather than use the hyphenated term “deaf-blindness” to define the population of infants, children and adults we are talking about here. Although this change may not seem so significant, it demonstrates that this is a unique disability, and not the sum total of a vision and a hearing loss” (Miles & Riggio, 1999).
The FAVI DeafBlind Collaborative uses the spelling “DeafBlind” (with two capital letters) to emphasize that both sensory losses must be considered–as well as the unique effects of combined loss.