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12 Insight Magazine Winter 2025 NewsDeafblindness in Scotland: a journey towards recognitionLisa Lee, Training and Engagement OfficerMore than 30,000 people are thought to live with deafblindness in Scotland, and this number is set to rise as the population ages. However, unlike other parts of the UK and many European countries, Scotland does not currently recognise deafblindness as a distinct disability and therefore the specialist support that is required for people with this condition is not available. This year, some important progress has been made to change this. Deafblindness is diagnosed when a person has both vision and a hearing impairment. Often when people have either sight loss or hearing loss, the other sense can compensate. This is not the case for people who are deafblind. All deafblind people experience life differently. They may each communicate, receive information and navigate the world differently from one another. How a person lives can be affected by many factors, including: %u2022 The severity of their deafblindness %u2022 Their age when they become deafblind %u2022 Any other health or social needs they have.A crucial step in recognising, diagnosing and supporting deafblindness is a legal definition. There is currently no legal definition of deafblindness in Scotland. The World Health Organisation (WHO), uses the Nordic definition of deafblindness which states: %u201cDeafblindness is a combined vision and hearing impairment of such severity that it is hard for the impaired senses to compensate for each other. Thus, deafblindness is a distinct disability. To varying degrees, deafblindness limits activities and restricts full participation in society. It affects social life, communication, access to information, orientation, and the ability to move around freely and safely. To help compensate for the combined vision and hearing %u201cA crucial step in recognising, diagnosing and supporting deafblindness is a legal definition