When deaf children are interacting with children that are blind, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the school is a school for the deaf and blind. Some people might be confused on how to tell what kind of students a school accommodates specifically. Here are a few things that give it away!

The name says so!
Yes, the name of the school will say, “For the deaf and blind” and that’s usually a dead giveaway. Not only do deaf students go there but also blind students and it has been emphasized in the name. The neat thing about Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind’s website is that not only do they have the name spelled out in text; they also have it in both hand shapes and Braille.

Special Equipment
Both deaf students and blind students require some special equipment. If you walk into a building and see strobe lights for fire alarms and walk past an interpreter signing under a person’s palm, you will know that the person is deaf and blind.  Some students may not be completely blind so there are magnified screens that magnify paper so big that it’s easier for them to see what has been written.

Be Observant
Not all blind students at a school for the deaf and blind are also deaf so you would probably see walking sticks which are usually an identifier for a blind person or people feeling the walls. They are not feeling the walls, they are feeling Braille which usually will be on signs next to the door to indicate which classroom it is.

Another thing to remember is sometimes these schools for the deaf and blind actually split the school in half using one section for the deaf and the second section for the blind so it’s not always clear whether they are one school or two separate schools. The best bet is to look at the name of the school and check out their website.

The states that have both deaf and blind schools in one are: Colorado, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Alabama, Montana, West Virginia, and Hawaii.