Diagnosing hearing and vision problems

Deafblindness may be detected soon after a baby is born, or after tests carried out later in life.

Speak to your GP if you have any concerns about your or your child's hearing and/or vision at any point.

If you're worried about a family member or friend, try to encourage them to speak to their GP.

Newborn screening

Ifyour baby is born deafblind, this will usually be picked up during newborn screening .

These are a series of checks carried out tosee if your baby has any serious health problems from birth, including any problems with their eyes or hearing.

If no problems are picked up at this stage, they may be detected during routine checks as your child gets older. Readmore about Hearing tests for children and eye tests for children .

Hearing and vision tests for adults

In most cases, deafblindnessdevelops as a person gets older. It can happen gradually, so you may not notice that your vision and/or hearing are getting worse at first.

It's therefore important to have routine eye tests to check for any problems. Adults should normally have their eyes tested every two years.

You can request a hearing test at your GP surgery at any point if you think you may be losing your hearing.

Theirhearing and vision should continue to be regularly assessedeven after they've been diagnosed, as the level of care and supportthey need will depend on how severely each sense is affected.

Want to know more?

• Sense: Hearing assessments

Specialist assessment

As soon as deafblindness has been identified, a specialist assessment should be arranged bythe local authority.

The assessmentshould only be carried out by a specially trained professional whois able to identify the deafblind person's abilities andneeds.The assessment should include assessing theirneeds in relation to:

• communication
• one-to-one human contact
• social interaction
• emotional wellbeing
• support with mobility
• assistive technology
• rehabilitation

The assessment will also takeinto account the person's current needs and those that develop in the future.

A deafblind person should have access to services suitable to their level of hearing and sight and their individual needs. Mainstream services aimed mainly at blind or deaf people may not always be appropriate.

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The charity Sense also has more information about the law and social care for deafblind people .