• A Deaf-Blind Person is someone with loss of both sight and hearing. This results in difficulties accessing information.
  
  
• A recent report from Statistics Canada states there are approximately 69,700 Canadians over the age of 12, living with the dual disability of Deaf-Blindness or a combination of both vision and hearing losses that limit their everyday activities*. Only 3,000 of these have been identified by the organizations providing Intervenor Services! 
  
  * Reference: CCSD's Disability Information Sheet, Number 15, 2004: http://www.ccsd.ca/drip/research/drip15/index.htm.
  
  
• Most of these individuals live in our communities and go to the same schools, jobs and shopping areas as we do.
  
  
• Deaf-Blind people do not have the same amount of help as Helen Keller did (24 hours a day). Some people in Toronto get up to 4 hours a day of 1 on 1 help from Intervenors; some get no help at all.
  
  
• Intervenor Services, sometimes referred to as intervention, is the provision of visual and auditory information.
  
  
• Intervenors act as Interpreter-Guides and provide access to information. George Brown College in Toronto and Medicine Hat College in Alberta have two year intervenor training programs.
  
  
• There are many different communication systems used by Deaf-Blind persons, some use the same system as Helen Keller. These systems include:
  
  
  • Two-Hand Manual (tactile spelling)
  • Finger Spelling - visual or tactile
  • Sign Language
  • Braille
  • Large Print
  • Keyboard Devices with refreshable braille displays and/or large print displays, etc.
    
    
• The Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind (CNSDB) has a total of 165 Members - 97 Deaf-Blind Members and 68 Sighted-Hearing Members.
  
  
• The Deaf-Blind Association of Toronto (DBAT) has a total of 69 Members, 37 of which are Deaf-Blind and 32 who are Sighted-Hearing Members.
  
  
• Rotary Cheshire is the only barrier-free independent living apartment building in North America where persons who are Deaf-Blind can direct their own services.
  

 
Contact


Rotary Cheshire Apartments for Deaf-Blind Persons
101-422 Willowdale Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 5B1

Phone: (416) 730-9501
TTY (416) 730-9187
E-Mail: rcheshire@onramp.ca

Canadian Helen Keller Centre Home page About the Centre Information about deafblindness Internet links and contacts How you can help the Centre Our Sponsors News Releases and Media Coverage Picture Gallery Quotes from Helen Keller ACCESS PAGES for persons with low vision

The Canadian Helen Keller Centre, Inc.
210 Empress Avenue
Toronto, ON
M2N 3T9

 TEL/TTY: (416) 225-8989
FAX: (416) 225-4871
e-mail

Registered Charity #86423 9082 RR0001