Deafblind UK helps people to live better with sight and hearing loss, this Deafblind Awareness Week

National charity, Deafblind UK, is on a mission to make things easier for people who have sight and hearing loss.

Director of Operations, Simon Moore said: “Combined sight and hearing loss affects around 400,000 people in the UK, but many people don’t realise that they’re suffering and just struggle on.”

The charity has also produced some guidelines to help people live better with sight and hearing loss. The leaflet, available to download online, suggests some simple and inexpensive changes that people can make to their home, or when out and about, to make things a bit easier for them.

Simone said: “We know that a lot of people don’t want to ask for help, or don’t feel that they need help through our traditional services. But when you have sight and hearing loss of any level, small things can make a huge difference, and that’s what we want to tell people about. Things like changing the lightbulbs that you use or rearranging the furniture to make use of natural light, can mean the difference between struggling and not.” 

The charity has also produced some guidelines to help organisations become more inclusive and accessible as they make adjustments to accommodate new government guidelines. These includes simple practical ideas that are easy to implement.

Both documents will be available to download from  https://deafblind.org.uk/deafblind-awareness-week/ 

The initiative is being launched as part of Deafblind Awareness Week, which runs from 22nd to 28th June. Deafblind Awareness Week always marks the birthday of Helen Keller. Born in 1880, Helen Keller was a well-known author and political activist who later became known as the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.