Documented Hearing and Vision Loss

The range and types of hearing and vision loss illustrate the diversity of the deafblind population. Only about 1% of children have profound hearing loss and total blindness. The other 99% have some residual hearing or vision.

Summary of Vision Loss Data

Just under 80% (8,450) of children were identified as having low vision, being legally blind, or having documented functional vision loss
- Low vision (34%)
- Legally blind(21%)
- Documented functional vision loss (25%)
4% were totally blind
30% had cortical visual impairment

Summary of Hearing Loss Data

Profound hearing loss was the most common primary classification of hearing impairment reported, occurring in 21% of children
14% had mild hearing loss
20% had moderate hearing loss
16% had moderately severe hearing loss
9% had severe hearing loss
13% had documented functional hearing loss
5% were identified as needing further hearing tests

Relatively few children were identified as having central auditory processing disorder (397) or auditory neuropathy (546). These numbers represent 4% and 5% of the population respectively.

Use of Corrective and Assistive Devices

There has been a significant increase over the past five years in the percentage of children with corrective lenses (42% to 47%) and assistive listening devices (49% to 54%).

The number of children identified as having cochlear implants was 1,404 (13%) in 2022. Changes by age group are as follows:

Birth through age 2 – increased from 7% in 2021 to 9% in 2022.
3 through 5 – decreased from 13% in 2021 to 11% in 2022.
6 through 21 – remained the same from 2021 at 41% to 2022 at 41%.

The percentage of children who use assistive technology was 46% (4,918). Of these, 50% had four or more additional disabilities, while only 8% had no additional disabilities.