Mission and Goals

MISSION OF THE CNSDB

To advocate for new and improved services for people who are deaf-blind.

To promote public awareness of deaf-blind issues.

To gather and distribute information that will help people who are deaf-blind to become full participants in society.

GOALS

To support initiatives that further CNSDB’s goals and to work in partnership with other organizations with a similar mandate.

To promote awareness of deaf-blindness and to educate the public with respect to the contributions and needs of people who are deaf-blind.

To provide information about assistive devices, service providers, funding sources, publications and educational opportunities.

To foster linkages and support our membership in developing a strong consumer group.

Deaf-Blindness

The partial or full loss of both vision and hearing poses unique challenges.  This dual disability is both isolating and restrictive, severely limiting access to education, opportunities for employment and contact with society.  The specific needs of deaf-blind individuals vary enormously according to age, time of onset and type of deaf-blindness.

Deaf-Blind: a condition that includes all types and degrees of dual hearing loss and vision loss and which interferes with communicating and acquiring information, though people who are deaf-blind may have varying levels of partial vision and/or hearing.

Deaf-blindness is unique and separate from deafness or blindness.  Unlike those who do not have full use of only one of these two senses, deaf-blind people are unable to use one sense to fully compensate for the impairment of the other.  As a result, people who have experienced both loss of sight and loss of hearing require specialized services, including adapted communication methods, that are different from those designed exclusively for people who are blind or people who are deaf.