Jill Gaus Leads Workshop on DeafBlind
An expanding partnership between Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired—two Grand Rapids nonprofits with similar missions—took an important next step in November as staff and volunteers from both organizations spent an afternoon with Jill Gaus, an expert on the DeafBlind.
Her two-hour presentation began with an exercise in which attendees were both blindfolded and wore ear plugs to simulate the loss of the two senses DeafBlind people encounter daily. Each attendee was then led by a guide to a table filled with various objects, including coins, rubber bands, clips, poker chips, twist ties and more, and asked to find two specific objects.
After that beginning, the participants all gathered in a second room to talk about the experience. With her audience now suitably engaged, Gaus then worked through a comprehensive presentation filled with both the practical and the philosophical when it comes to how to best serve the DeafBlind.
Gaus worked for years as a licensed practical nurse before losing her vision and hearing as a result of Usher Syndrome. She now has made it one of her missions in life to educate people about the ways in which life can be made easier for those who have lost (or are losing) their hearing and vision.
In fact, she estimated that between bigger workshops like the one with D&HHS and ABVI and smaller sessions, including one on ones with families, she does 30-50 events annually.
What she did in Grand Rapids, she added, is extremely important.
“One agency works mostly with the blind and visually impaired and the other is mostly for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing,” she said. “Some think that both of these together can equal DeafBlind, when in fact it does not, so helping both agencies know how to work with a DeafBlind client was the goal.”
D&HHS executive director Deb Atwood helped organize and also participated in the workshop. She said she was thrilled to have Gaus, who is considered one of the leaders in the DeafBlind community in the state of Michigan, on hand for the event, and she is excited for future collaborations between her nonprofit and ABVI.
“We are currently in the planning stages for a workshop centered around DeafBlind Awareness Week 2024,” she said. “To our knowledge there has not been anything like this in West Michigan, so we are hoping to bring on support from area hospitals, medical/mental health facilities, nonprofits and large companies to not only support this event financially but also to invite their leadership and support staff that work with the Blind and DeafBlind communities.”
D&HHS community partnerships manager Erica Chapin said it is important that staff and volunteers from both D&HHS and ABVI have an understanding of how to communicate and work with DeafBlind individuals so that they can be served with respect and dignity.
“If DeafBlind come to us for services and don’t feel comfortable or safe, then we cannot meet their needs,” she added.