Return to: Georgia Sensory Assistance Project | On-line Newsletter | Revised 04/24/2004
Deafblindness in Georgia
There are currently 284 infants, toddlers,
children and youth who are deafblind in Georgia. Deafblindness refers to a combined
vision and hearing loss. Functional levels may vary from hard-of-hearing and
partially sighted to profoundly deaf and totally blind. It also includes those
individuals who may not be using their vision or hearing due to severe disabilities.
Deafblindness can cause developmental delays in areas such as language, social
skills, and mobility, but does not necessarily limit the individual’s
learning potential. An individual who meets this definition may also be counted
by a school system in another area of exceptionality.
To get an idea of the wide range of individuals who are deafblind in Georgia,
GSAP thought it would provide a snapshot of some of the characteristics of this
population. The following are for infants, toddlers, children and youth, ages
birth to twenty-two in Georgia.
| Population distribution (284 individuals who are deafblind) | ||
| Greater Metro Area | 37.0% | |
| Midsize Cities | 14.8% (including Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon,
Savannah Albany, Warner Robbins, Valdosta) |
|
| Towns & Rural | 48.2% | |
| Age Distribution | ||
| Birth to 2 years | 14% | |
| 3 to 5 years | 15% | |
| 6 to 9 years | 22% | |
| 10 to 13 years | 20% | |
| 14 to 16 years | 14% | |
| 17 — 22 years | 15% | |
| Georgia Deafblind Part B Distribution | ||
| Not applicable, under age three | 17% | |
| Mental retardation | 41% | |
| Developmentally Delayed | 13% | |
| Visually Impaired | 10% | |
| Hearing impaired (& deafness) | 9% | |
| Deaf-blind | 7% | |
| Other health impaired | 2% | |
| Multi-disabled | 1% | |
| Autistic | 0% | |
| Orthopedic impairment | 0% | |
| Emotionally disturbed | 0% | |
| Specific Learning Disability | 0% | |
| Speech or Language Impairment | 0% | |
| Traumatic Brain Injury | 0% | |
| Primary Form of Communication | ||
Nonsymbolic gestures/behaviors |
64% | |
| Speech |
21% | |
| Sign language (visual) |
11% | |
| Sign language (tactual) |
1% | |
| Picture/Symbol system |
2% | |
| Tactile communication system |
1% | |
| Electronic picture/symbol system |
0% | |
| Other | 0% | |
| Vocabulary Size | ||
Less than 10 |
59% | |
| 10 to 40 |
11% | |
| 41 to 100 |
6% | |
| 101 to 150 |
3% | |
| 151 to 300 |
3% | |
| Over 300 | 18% | |
| Mobility Distribution | ||
| Ambulates without assistance |
41% | |
| Manual wheelchair is pushed |
41% | |
| Cane (for visual impairment) | 4% | |
| Walker |
3% | |
| Sighted guide |
2% | |
| Manual wheelchair self-propels |
1% | |
| Electric wheelchair self-propels |
1% | |
| Electric wheelchair is pushed |
0% | |
| Electronic mobility device |
0% | |
| Cane (for physical impairment) |
0% | |
| Other | 7% | |
| Behavior Distribution | ||
No challenging behaviors |
64% | |
| Hurtful to self |
11% | |
| Hurtful to others |
5% | |
| Unusual or repetitive habits |
5% | |
| Socially offensive behavior |
4% | |
| Destructive to property |
2% | |
| Other | 9% | |
| Etiology | |||
| Complications of Prematurity |
29% | ||
| Hereditary/Chromosomal Syndromes |
(30% for all hereditary / chromosomal) | ||
| CHARGE association |
6.5% | ||
| Usher Type 1 |
3.5% | ||
| Down Syndrome | 3.0% | ||
| Pre-Natal/Congenital Complications | |||
| Microcephaly |
4.5% | ||
| Cytomegalovirus |
4.0% | ||
| Hydrocephaly | 3.0% | ||
| Post-Natal/Non-Congenital Complication | |||
| Meningitis |
4.0% | ||
| Severe head injury |
4.0% | ||
| Encephalitis | 1.5% | ||