Documented Hearing and Vision Loss

The range and types of hearing and vision loss illustrate the diversity of the deaf-blind 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 79% (8,286) 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 (24%)
• 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
• 13% had mild hearing loss
• 19% had moderate hearing loss
• 16% had moderately severe hearing loss
• 9% had severe hearing loss
• 13% had documented functional hearing loss
• 6% were identified as needing further hearing tests

Relatively few children were identified as having central auditory processing disorder (401) or auditory neuropathy (539). 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 (41.6% to 46.9%) and assistive listening devices (48.1% to 52.9%).

The number of children identified as having cochlear implants was 1,377 (13%) in 2021. The percentage of children ages birth through age 2 with cochlear implants decreased from 8% in 2020 to 7% in 2021. The percentage for children ages 3 through 5 grew from 10% in 2020 to 13% in 2021. The percentage of children ages 6 through 21 increased by 2%, from 39% to 41%.

The percentage of children who use assistive technology was 45% (4,665). Of these, 49% were children with four or more additional disabilities, while only 8% were children with no additional disabilities.