Category: General

The Dual Sensory Impairment-Deafblindness National Conference

DSI Project orange and blue logo showing touch signing and braille of the letters D S I

Filling in the gaps and joining the dots The Dual Sensory Impairment Project is delighted to announce the upcoming National Dual Sensory Impairment-Deafblindness Conference, taking place this November at the University of Sydney.We are co-convening this important awareness-raising, experience-sharing and skills-building event with the Dual Sensory Impairment Fellowship at Macquarie University. Support and sponsorship have also been provided by: This …

Christmas Party and Plans for 2025

Group photo at Christmas lunch of Moira, Emily, Annmaree, Julie, Skye, Sophie, and Izabella, with Cathie behind the camera.

The Dual Sensory Impairment Project held an annual Christmas party in mid-December! We celebrated 2024’s achievements, discussed challenges, solutions and big plans for 2025 projects, chatted about our holiday fun and ate a delicious array of food! Our chief cheerleader Suzie was absent, although we mustn’t feel sorry for this as she was in France enjoying her beautiful new house, …

Save Sight Institute Family Day – Part 3: Social-Haptic Communication Workshop Notes

Annmaree Watharow and Susannah McNally People have been using on-body touch signals for centuries. Most people use touch and gestures, for example, to signify support (patting on the back), and love (holding hands, kissing). People with disability and their families have sometimes created individual systems when sight, hearing or speaking senses are not working well enough for them to ‘know …

Save Sight Institute Family Day – Part 1: Transitions and Super Teams

Annmaree Watharow and Susannah McNally We are here at the Save Sight Institute Family Day as part of our mission with the Dual Sensory Impairment Project to consolidate partnerships and raise awareness of the issues impacting people and families living with sensory impairments. Our brief today is twofold: a presentation of managing transitions from children’s health care services to adult …

A Report from The United Kingdom

Usher syndrome is the most common cause of deafblindness in people under 65 years of age, accounting for around fifty percent. In most cases, Usher syndrome is the combination of congenital deafness and acquired low vision that degenerates over time. It may be associated with balance disorders and cataracts. The hearing loss is usually stable, but subtypes have been identified …

International Book Launch

Cover of book with older person image

Lived Places Publishing has recently released Dual Sensory Impairment and the Older Person on their website. Older people with combined hearing loss and low vision, also known as dual sensory impairment living in residential aged care facilities are a forgotten group. Hearing loss, vision loss, loneliness and a rapidly ageing population are global concerns. But older people with dual sensory …

Seeing things that aren’t there

Ghost image of a person not there

Last week Annmaree and Suzie travelled to Newcastle to talk on “seeing things that aren’t there” or visual hallucinations, often called Charles Bonnet syndrome.  “Seeing things that aren’t there”, that no one else can see and that are called visual hallucinations. “Seeing things that aren’t there” is very common in people with problems seeing well. Deafblind people “see things that …

Being Included in Museum Visits

With the guide at Hampton court palace

Travelling can be a complicated experience when you have combined hearing loss and low vision. In particular, going to galleries, museums and exhibitions can often be an excluding experience: not enough accessible information, few visual descriptions, scarce large print materials and frequently, noisy, crowded surrounds. Sometimes I trail behind my husband feeling bored. Sometimes I drink tea in the café …