ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide the non-specialist teacher with basic information about educating deafblind children. For those wishing to develop their knowledge and skills in this area, such activities as further reading and well-planned visits to schools that educate deafblind children should help the teacher begin to form a foundation from which it should be possible to build the understanding and skills necessary to work with and support a specialist teacher of deafblind children. In this chapter, I define deafblindness, consider its prevalence and incidence, outline some of its causes, and examine implications for a child who is deafblind of whether hearing impairment and/or visual impairment are congenital/early onset or are acquired. The chapter considers the identification and assessment of deafblindness. It explains various approaches to the education of children who are deafblind, focusing mainly on encouraging and developing communication but also touching on mobility and on the child finding out information.
