Key points
- There is huge variability in people with MSI, although they are unified by daily challenges with communication, access to information and independent mobility.
- Children with MSI are a low incidence educational group.
- There is a growing population of older people with age-related dual sensory loss.
- Not all people with MSI identify as being deafblind. They may identify as deaf people who can’t see very well, physically disabled people who can’t see or hear very well or as older people who can’t see or hear as well as they used to.
- There are statutory duties to identify, assess and provide support for deafblind people.
What is multi-sensory impairment?
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People with multi-sensory impairment (MSI) have a combination of hearing and vision impairments. Most MSI people will have some useful vision and hearing; however there are some who are completely deaf and blind.
There are a number of terms used to describe MSI including:
- Deafblind
- Dual-sensory impaired
- Dual sensory loss
These can be used interchangeably, denoting the fact that combined losses of sight and hearing are significant for the individual, even where they are not profoundly deaf and totally blind.
Not all people with MSI identify as being deafblind. They may identify as deaf people who can’t see very well, physically disabled people who can’t see or hear very well, or as older people who can’t see or hear as well as they used to.
Key organisations
- Deafblind International
- Kentalis – a national organisation in the Netherlands, specialising in providing diagnostic, care and educational services to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind
- National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP)
- National Center on Deaf-Blindness (Formerly DB Link)
- Perkins – a progressive, multi-faceted organisation committed to improving the lives of people with blindness and deafblindness all around the world
- Scottish Sensory Centre
- Sense – for children and adults who are deafblind, or have sensory impairments
- Sense Scotland