The Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (also known as the Helen Keller National Center or HKNC) is a foundation in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that provides services for individuals who, like Helen Keller, are both blind and deaf. Authorized by an Act of Congress in 1967, the Center provides nationwide services for people who are

deaf-blind Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful hearing and little or no useful sight. Different degrees of vision loss and auditory loss occur within each individual. Because of this inherent diversity, each deafblind individual's needs re ...

according to the definition of deaf-blindness in the Helen Keller Act. It operates a residential rehabilitation and training facility at its headquarters in Sands Point, New York, which opened in 1976, and a system of ten regional field offices, also supporting families and professional carers. In 2010 the Center served 72 adult training clients and specialized short term training for 26 clients; in addition the regional programs served 1,478 consumers, 441 families, and 881 organizations. The organization provides independent living skills training, referral, employment training, counseling, and transition assistance for individuals well as technical assistance and training for service providers. There is an international internship program for professionals. The Center is funded in part by the

Rehabilitation Services Administration The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is a federal agency under the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and is headquartered within the Department of Education in Washingto ...

of the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

. In 2001, federal government provided $8.5 million a year of the $11 million annual operating costs. Congressional findings were that the Center "is a vital national resource for meeting the needs of individuals who are deaf-blind and no State currently has the facilities or personnel to meet such needs". There are about 70,000 deaf-blind people in the United States. Most have

Usher syndrome Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes result ...

, a

congenital disorder A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities ca ...

in which the individual is born deaf and there is loss of sight by adolescence. Federal law mandates that individual States take responsibility for education until the age of 16—after that the Center takes over.

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* {{Authority control Medical and health foundations in the United States Blindness organizations in the United States National Center

See also

References

External links