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How Sense supports people who are deafblind

We hear from Emma Turner, Deputy Practice Manager, Sense about the great and innovative work the organisation has been doing to support people who are deafblind.

We are Sense – supporting everyone who is deafblind or has complex disabilities. We believe everyone should be able to take part in life, no matter their disability.

Sense was originally set up by two mothers of deafblind children in 1955, who were struggling with the lack of support for their disabled children. Together, they built a network of families who supported each other.

Today, we support thousands of people who are deafblind all over the UK to communicate, experience the world and fulfil their potential.

What is deafblindness?

Deafblindness is a disability in its own right. It means people have both sight and hearing loss that affects their everyday life. Access to information, communicating with people and getting about independently can be much more difficult.

Being deafblind doesn’t necessarily mean people are totally deaf and/or totally blind. Most people who are deafblind have some sight and some hearing. Even with mild sight and hearing loss people do experience challenges because of how having both sight loss and hearing loss affects them.

The legal definition of deafblindness

In 1995, the Department of Health established a legal definition of deafblindness, which stated:

Together this can impact on how the person accesses information, communicates, and navigates around the physical environment.

Some people are born deafblind (congenital) or it can happen later in life (acquired).

In 2022 it was estimated that there were over 450,000 people in the UK who were deafblind. This is expected to increase to over 610,000 by 2035.

How Sense supports people who are deafblind

Sense aims to create a world where people with deafblindness and complex needs can live the lives they want and avoid loneliness and isolation.

We put disabled people and their loved ones at the heart of everything we do. We have over 65 years of expertise in providing personalised support for people of all ages — from early life to adulthood.

We have an ambitious strategy in place and we want to:

• ensure the best possible start for children and families;
• support adults to live and learn at every stage of their lives;
• reduce loneliness and isolation;
• give people a voice which would otherwise be unheard.

Some of the opportunities we offer to people who are deafblind around the UK include:

• innovative and inclusive art and dance activities;
• health, wellbeing, and sports activities;
• personalised accessible holidays in the country’s most picturesque spots;
• free play sessions for 0-8-year-olds;
• chances to build friendships for life through our Buddying programme;
• supported living and residential care.

One family shared:

Supporting our staff

Staff are offered a variety of learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge as well as supervision and ongoing support. Opportunities to champion an approach including Activity Champion, Quality Champion or Relationships Champion is promoted to embed best practice. Investing in staff is critical. Sense aims to support people to live the life they choose and maintain as much control over their life as possible. Person centred planning is very important and at Sense we always look at what a person can do rather than what they can’t but we also find a way to understand and overcome barriers people with complex needs may face.

Listening and responding to people's experience is at the heart of the organisation and we follow a process of 'Working together for change' where we reflect collaboratively on people's feedback about things that are working and not working.

At Sense we really do value equality and diversity and celebrate the differences between us, we harness empathy, we think creatively, face challenges and promote a can-do attitude in order to continue to offer high-quality services.

If you want to find out more about Sense or .

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