Causes

Causes of deafblindness are defined under two categories:

• Congenital deafblindness (from birth)
• Acquired deafblindness  (developed after birth)

Congenital deafblindness can stem from:

• Pre and post-natal trauma such as asphyxia, prematurity or cerebral palsy
• Maternal alcohol and drug addiction
• Maternal Rubella
• Cytomegalovirus
• Toxoplasmosis
• Usher syndrome
• CHARGE syndrome

Acquired deafblindness can stem from:

• Illness such as meningitis
• Infections such as encephalitis
• Brain tumour
• Head injury
• Ageing
• Disease