Supporting deafblindness in the workplace

Did you know that there are over 450,000 people in the UK who are deafblind?

This number is expected to grow, due to an ageing society and how we take care of our sight and hearing. For example, people working with screens for long periods require regular eye tests, and people who work in noisy environments such as with machinery should wear ear defenders. As an employer, these are just two examples to consider in support of your employee’s health.

While it is always great to prevent as much damage to our eyes and ears as possible, there are lots of people in workplaces who are deafblind, and sometimes they may go under the radar due to a lack of others’ understanding and knowledge. This means they may find things harder, feel isolated, or need to do things in a different way.

So, how can we change this? 

At Deafblind UK we offer many courses and resources that can help your business, community, school or professional setting get up to speed on being a deafblind-friendly environment. For example, our Deafblind awareness talks, give an insight into the unique issues that affect people living with sight and hearing loss and are tailored specifically to you.

We also offer a free ‘Making your business accessible‘ guide or an in-person visit for those in Northern Ireland to make your services, business or venue more accessible.

For more in-depth and unique avenues our ‘Learning and development program‘ has something for everyone. Whether you’re after some basic knowledge about deafblindness so that you can help a friend or colleague, or you’re a professional who needs to carry out specialist deafblind assessments, there is something for you. We offer courses which will be delivered over 1-3 days by a specialist from Deafblind UK. The interactive course contains lots of practical elements, such as learning block alphabet, and guiding techniques.

For more information on our available courses click here.

Takeaway

There are lots of ways we can make professional settings more inclusive and deafblind-friendly, and they all start with education. Our website and social media offer lots of digestible information that is free to read and could really make a difference to someone you come across who is deafblind.

To discuss the options available to you get in touch by calling 0800 132320 or filling out this form.