Coronavirus: Deafblind people face communication challenges in a time of social distancing

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, The Limping Chicken has been investigating how the outbreak has affected different members of the Deaf community.

In the latest report in his series, Liam O’Dell explores how deafblind people have been impacted by the crisis.

“People who rely on deafblind manual communication are forced to choose between communication or risking their health,” a spokesperson for the charity Deafblind UK tells The Limping Chicken. “They simply cannot be two meters apart from someone while using deafblind manual.”

“This also has other implications, not only putting their support workers at risk – who are also unable to maintain social distancing – but it means that they cannot communicate with their peers or have any sort of non-essential conversation.”

As a communication method which sees individual letters signed onto a person’s hand to spell words, deafblind manual is touch-based, which poses problems in terms of government guidance to keep at least two metres apart from others.

“I have to be close and break the normal personal space social conventions to communicate,” a member explains to Deafblind UK. “I can’t see facial expressions or exchange winks. Touching is vital to my emotional life with others.”

For Sense, a charity for those with complex disabilities, Chief Executive Richard Kramer says they are continuing to provide high quality support “in such a disorientating world”.

“During this crisis, when touch and physical contact is restricted and seen as a risky activity, our staff in our homes continue to provide this most essential support,” he tells The Limping Chicken. “Even in these difficult times, we see every day the strength and resilience of our frontline staff.”

People coming together to support deafblind individuals is something which has also been seen by Deafblind UK, with the charity reporting “a great response” to their callout for volunteers for their befriending service.

From March to April, the charity’s initiative – which involves volunteers develop friendships with deafblind people – saw an increase of more than 500% in the number of requests for a befriender.

Deafblind UK have also launched a free wellbeing and emotional support service for individuals during the pandemic, enabling them to talk to someone trained and experienced in areas such as deafblind awareness, communication support and mental health issues.

As an issue, isolation is, of course, experienced by many members of the deaf community, but Richard says the families Sense supports are particularly hard hit.

“Many of their children have health conditions which mean they are at particular risk and have to be shielded from infection,” he explains. “We know a huge fear for families is that their child is hospitalised with COVID-19, with no family carer present and no means of communication.

Richard continues: “Parents are also fearful of what will happen if they fall ill themselves. We have heard examples where local authorities have said that in this scenario, they will make their own unilateral ‘best interests’ decision on future care arrangements, with one family being told that they would place their 16-year-old son on a mental health ward.”

Elsewhere, as supermarkets dedicate specific hours for disabled customers, both Sense and Deafblind UK tell The Limping Chicken of occasions where shopping has been a challenge for deafblind people.

One individual writes to Deafblind UK in an email and says: “There is nothing left on the shelves in the supermarkets. I am struggling, really struggling. We are told to stay in, yet I am forced to go out more than I ever would usually because I can’t get what I need in just one trip.

“This is a real concern because, of course, I am putting myself at a higher risk of catching the virus,” she goes on to add. “Otherwise I would have no fresh food coming in at all as I self-isolate. I also have no family so I have no-one I can turn to.”

Meanwhile, Richard says: “[Deafblind people] are not classed as medically vulnerable and as such don’t qualify for priority online food shopping, which means they have to rely on family and friends to provide them with essentials.

“We need to see a plan for how people who aren’t medically vulnerable, but who still need help in this time, can get easy access to their essentials without having to rely on family and friends.”

Like other charities in these uncertain times, the two charities are calling on the Government to do more to support the individuals and families they represent. This includes public announcements relating to the coronavirus meeting people’s communication needs with the provision of interpreters, subtitles, alt text and more.

“We are urging the Government to ensure that clear PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] masks are used for those that lipread,” the Deafblind UK spokesperson says, “and guidance is given to all around issues of social distancing and using guides when going to appointments and shopping.

“Guide dogs are not trained to use social distancing so everyone needs to be made aware of this.

“Deafblindness needs to be recognised as a vulnerable condition and people with sight and hearing impairments need to be included in the vulnerable list for better access to services and information,” they add.

Meanwhile, Richard says Sense have been campaigning as part of the Disability Charity Consortium to voice concerns around the Coronavirus Act, which came into force at the end of March.

Alongside giving the police new powers to enforce social distancing rules, the legislation also relieves local councils of certain care and support obligations.

“Within it there are a number of changes to provisions for adult social care, children’s social care and SEND,” Richard explains. “However, we have significant concerns that the Act removes duties to provide care and support, and that this may see disabled people having reductions in care or not receiving care at all.

He goes on to add: “One other area we are concerned about are services for disabled children and young people who are currently unable to access their usual provision at school.

“What is needed to counteract this, is additional social care support at home, especially for communication needs, personal care and positive behaviour support. This is especially important to ensure safeguarding against neglect and abuse.”

Earlier this month, two chief medical professionals in England wrote to hospitals and GPs to say that blanket policies around ‘do not attempt resuscitation’ (DNAR) orders are “inappropriate whether due to medical condition, disability, or age”.

In Wales, an NHS health board issued an apology after asking severely ill patients to complete a ‘do not resuscitate’ form in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Sense strongly rejects ‘blanket policies’ regarding DNAR, withholding of treatment or refusals for admission on the basis of disability,” Richard tells The Limping Chicken.

“Disabled people must not be discriminated against in clinical decision-making, and their rights must be upheld in this crisis.”

More information about Sense and Deafblind UK and support available can be found on their respective websites.

Deafblind’s wellbeing service can be contacted by calling 0800 132320 (for text relay, add 18001 before dialling), texting 07950 008870 or via FaceTime using the address helpline.dbuk@deafblind.org.uk (speech only).

Photos: Deafblind UK. 

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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This article is the sixth report in our ongoing series on coronavirus and how it affects different members of the Deaf community. Previous pieces in the series have covered the pandemic’s impact on:

•  British Sign Language interpreters
• Deaf university students
• Deaf mental health
• Deaf charities
• Access to government announcements