Deafblind communication amazes me

This week I read about Liz Ball, an articulate and witty writer and computer whiz and Ph. D. student and independent young woman and who is also deafblind, by the way.

The world of the deafblind (or deaf-blind) community is alive and well, thank you.

The first thing that struck me when I went looking for articles by and about people who are deafblind was this:

A lot of people who are deafblind are also very smart.

I don't mean, oh, they have normal intelligence and what a great achievement given their lack of sight and hearing.

No, I mean, Ph. D. smart. Inventor smart. Author smart. Cpmputer stuff smart.

I wonder if there are any scientific studies about this. One person who might know the answer to that question is Liz Ball, a computer wizard and writer who has contributed several pieces to Ouch, the BBC's online disability website. Liz is a Ph. D. student in England. She was born blind and then lost her hearing. Her first person descriptions of getting around London, going to work, carrying on the way every twenty-something does, make it sound... well...almost easy.

Easy until you read about the jerks who stole her red and white cane, that is. A red and white cane identifies a deafblind person. When you rely upon your sense of touch instead of sight and hearing, losing the cane effectively cuts off most of your access to incoming information.

I mentioned Liz Ball in the piece Assisting a Deaf-Blind Person. It was her story of the day she was robbed of her cane and communication book a mile away from home which got me interested in the question of how to be "helpful". The first thing I learned is: don't assume someone needs help just because they have a cane, but do listen and observe, and gently offer help if it seems to be needed.

Another place that people who are deafblind came up this week was in the article Accessible to Deaf-Blind Guests. For people in the hospitality and lodgings industry, there are some straightforward pointers and links to further references, including a checklist for hotels and motels prepared by the American Foundation for the Blind, the full title of which is Ensuring Access to Facilities by Customers who are Blind, Deaf-Blind or Visually Impaired.

It was a rewarding week, learning how to maybe make myself useful some day.