Booklet 4: Being Active

This booklet focuses on the deafblind persons’ narratives on how to handle a disability that progresses and the consequences it has on their lives. The narratives show once more that the diagnosis ”deafblind” is not something that you can get over in just one go. The informants describe how the vision reduction slowly progresses and that they at the same time slowly realise that there is a social environment or leisure activity which must be given up unless they can find and receive an allowance to compensate, often in the form of a contact person or interpreting aid.

There is a great difference between the life the informants live and how they see themselves and their situation. It is worth mentioning that many informants say that they consider that they lead a good life with many possibilities – despite their disability. At the same time, they see themselves as atypical for the group of deafblind persons. They consider that other deafblind persons cope worse than they do.

A prior condition to being able to participate in family life, as well as in the local environment and society, is that there has to be sufficient possibilities of compensating the loss, often in the form of a contact person and an interpreter, or intervenor. Deafblind persons with severe hearing impairment risk becoming socially isolated and suffer from loneliness if they are not offered sufficient contact person hours and interpreting aid.

Download "Booklet 4: Being Active" as pdf

Download "Booklet 4: Being Active" as word file

Order all booklets from the Nordic Project