Causes of Deafblindness

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A person who is born with impaired sight and hearing has congenital deafblindness. This means that the condition has existed since birth, due to a genetic disorder (a faulty gene), or through an infection passed on by the mother during pregnancy. For example, pregnant women who contract Rubella (also known as German Measles) are at higher risk of giving birth to babies with deafblindness. In the past, Rubella was the main cause of congenital deafblindness, but in recent years this has been a much less common cause due to the availability of vaccination.

Another major cause of deafblindness is Usher syndrome which is characterised by total or partial hearing loss, together with Retinitis Pigmentosa (a disease that results in damage to the retina â€“ the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye).

Acquired deafblindness is used to describe when a person:

loses hearing and sight as a result of an accident, disease or old age;
is born without hearing and loses sight in later life; or;
is born without sight and loses hearing in later life.