Often, the same conditions that cause deafness may also cause mental retardation. The rubella that caused my deafness is one of them. CMV (cytomegalovirus) is another. Infants who are shaken can become deaf and mentally retarded.
Causes
We don't hear very much about deaf people with mental retardation in the deaf community, but they do exist. On March 10, 1996 CNN reported on a deaf teen with mental retardation whose condition was caused by the CMV virus. In addition, many people with Down Syndrome also have hearing loss. This was cited in the article Hearing and Vision Loss Associated with Down Syndrome.
Education
I don't know of any schools in the United States specifically for deaf students with mental retardation. Often such students are educated in classes for multiply disabled deaf students. Sweden does have such a school, however. Other educational resources include a fact sheet on teaching deaf children with multiple disabilities, from Info to Go. While not specifically about mental retardation, MR is probably one of the included conditions.
Research
There has been quite a bit of research into deafness and mental retardation. Resources found online included:
- Searching the ERIC database using the keywords deaf and mental retardation yielded several articles, although most were relatively old.
- The American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, previously the American Journal of Mental Retardation published by the American Association on Intelluctual and Developmental Disabilities, has carried articles on deafness and hearing loss.
- A Swedish book from 1987, "Speak with my hands: the communication of deaf-blind mentally retarded children."
Fun and Caretaking
Deaf adults with mental retardation can attend Camp Sign-a-Watha in Maine. Finally, when deaf children with mental retardation grow up, they may need supervised living situations.
Personal Pages
- Matthew's page - Web site of a hearing impaired teen with Downs Syndrome.
