In Western Australia, from 24-30 June we celebrate Deafblind Awareness Week (DBAW). This week raises awareness about the challenges faced by people with combined hearing and vision impairments, while also celebrating the resilience and achievements of those living with deafblindness. DBAW is celebrated internationally each year to coincide with Helen Keller’s birthday on 27 June.
What is deafblindess?
Who is Helen Keller?
Helen Keller was born in 1880 and lost her sight and hearing due to illness at an early age. Despite these challenges, Keller’s determination and the guidance of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, enabled her to learn to communicate through touch. Keller went on to achieve a number of previously unthinkable firsts. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also became a renowned author, an advocate and a disability rights activist, travelling the world with her message of hope for people living with disability.
Helen Keller visited Australia in 1948 with her secretary and companion Polly Thompson. Keller’s goal was ‘to give a message for the blind struggling with their local environment which varies from land to land [so that] when at last true civilisation dawns, society will safeguard their liberties and rights.’ You can listen to the ABC interview with Polly Thompson and Helen Keller from 1948 here.
Keller was invited to Australia by the Royal Sydney Industrial blind Institute. During here time here, she visited schools, nursing homes and libraries for people with vision impairment right across the country. The Institute were surprised when Keller told them that Australia’s services for the blind were behind that of the rest of the world. In essence, Helen Keller’s visit to Australia changed the way that Australians thought about disability. Her groundbreaking ideas shifted our nation towards a support model based in partnership, empowerment and independence.
Keller’s legacy lives on in Western Australia, where organisations like VisAbility and Deafblind WA support the deafblind community to thrive.
Information and Support
In Western Australia, VisAbility have supported the blind and vision impaired community for over 100 years. Starting out as the Ladies’ Braille Society in 1913 transcribing Braille literature. After the First World War, The Society moved on to home teaching, social work and establishing the Rest Home for the Aged Blind at Victoria Park in 1923. In 1973, we joined forces with Guide Dogs for the Blind (now Guide Dogs WA) to deliver comprehensive support for people with vision impairment. Evolving with the times, VisAbility provides vision specialist services for all ages, supporting people through life’s big transitions. This includes empowering members in our deafblind community to live their lives to the full. Simply supporting people to keep doing the things they love.