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Developing countries often have little awareness of and virtually no services for individuals who are deaf-blind. In some nations, children who are deaf-blind remain isolated at home without education, and adults who are deaf-blind may live without rehabilitation services ("Disability in the Majority World," 2005; SENSE, 1999).
Little is known about the demographic characteristics and clinical profiles of people who are deaf-blind in Thailand, although there have been some anecdotal data on the education of children who are deaf-blind in the region. Multiple searches of available databases on the population, education, and national health of Thailand revealed no data on deaf-blindness. According to Mitchell (1995, p. 7), "the Seventh Educational Development Plan (1992-94) provided for equal treatment for both special and regular education," and the 1991 Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act included the categories of language and speech impairment and multiple handicaps. Nonetheless, there seems to have been no effort to account for people who are deaf-blind. With no official census, the authors strongly suspect that all cases of persons who are deaf-blind have been labeled and reported as cases of multiple disabilities, and, therefore, it can be assumed that the unique needs and appropriate services related to these persons' sensory loss have not been addressed.
Before 1989, individuals who were deaf-blind were not recognized in Thailand's educational and rehabilitation systems. At that time, the Hilton-Perkins program brought the first team of professional educators to the country to begin working with children who were deaf-blind (Hubbs, 1998; International Programs, 2005). Currently, programs in educational settings, supported by charitable, nonprofit and religious, and governmental projects, provide basic instruction; programs to educate children who are deaf-blind who have additional disabilities have been established in the greater Bangkok areas, as well as in Roi Et, Nakhon Fathom, Chiang Mai, Lampang, and Lo Buri. Despite considerable efforts by governmental and nongovernmental organizations to improve education and rehabilitation programs, no systemic efforts have been specifically targeted to individuals who are deaf-blind. Confounding the challenges, there are no Thai consumer or advocacy organizations of or for individuals who are deafblind.
According to the online health data provider, Adviware Pty Ltd. (2005, para. 1), we can extrapolate the number of individuals with dual sensory loss conditions (such as Usher syndrome-a genetic...