"The term, 'children with DeafBlindness,' means children and youth with auditory and visual impairment, the combination of which creates such severe communication and other developmental and learning needs that they cannot be appropriately educated without special education and related services, beyond those that would be provided solely for children with hearing impairments, visual impairments, or severe disabilities to address their educational needs due to these concurrent disabilities."  

Students with DeafBlindness in Texas have been estimated to be fewer than 800 children ages birth to twenty-two. This is an extremely low incidence disability. The range of vision and hearing loss occurring with individual students is great. Some students have mild vision and hearing loss, others total blindness and profound hearing loss, most fall somewhere in-between with one of the sensory losses being more significant than the other. These children use various forms of communication at different times for receptive and expressive communication such as speech, sign language, braille, tactile or object symbols. Many of these children have additional physical, cognitive, and medical challenges. They are educated in regular education classes, life skills classes, programs for the deaf and programs for the blind, and/or special residential schools. Frequently they are the only student in a school district with deafblindness.

Individuals who work with these students may lack specific training in DeafBlindness and therefore require a great deal of support to meet an individual student's needs. Even specialized teachers such as a teacher of the deaf, teacher of students with visual impairments, and orientation and mobility specialists may have little or no experience with students who are DeafBlind.

Additionally, family members require information, training, and support to become the life-long advocates that their child with DeafBlindness may need. The birth of their child with DeafBlindness begins a long journey of learning about DeafBlindness and finding specific resources they need to help their child achieve a productive and happy life.