How do people become deaf-blind?
About 50 percent of people in the deaf-blind community have Usher Syndrome. This is a genetic condition where a person is born deaf or hard of hearing, or with normal hearing, and loses his or her vision later on in life from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). There are three kinds of Usher Syndrome. If a person has Usher 1, she is born deaf, and starts to lose her vision usually in the teen years. If a person has Usher Syndrome 2, he is born hard of hearing and starts to lose his vision later on. With Usher 3, a person is usually born with normal vision and hearing, or with a mild hearing loss, and start to lose both senses later in life. Other common causes of deaf-blindness include birth trauma, optic nerve atrophy, cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, or diabetic retinopathy. Some people may be born with both hearing and visual impairments through birth trauma or rare causes such as CHARGE Syndrome or cortical visual impairment. Others may become deaf-blind through accidents or illne
