Fast facts

• We estimate there are around 5,000 people in Scotland with a dual sensory impairment. Relatively few people are totally deaf and totally blind – many have a little hearing and/or sight left.
• According to the Scottish Executive, 1732 people are registered blind with a hearing impairment and 880 are registered partially sighted with a hearing impairment. All of these people are likely to meet the criteria of membership of Deafblind Scotland.
• Most deafblind people are over 60 years of age and have become dual sensory impaired as part of the ageing process.
• 20% of Deafblind Scotland members have a condition known as Usher Syndrome.
• 10% use BSL as their first language and English as a second language.
• 19 of our members use Braille to access written language
• The most commonly requested formats are large print and audio tape.