The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University (MSU), in collaboration with the RRTC on Persons who are Hard of Hearing or Late Deafened at the National University (NU) in San Diego, and the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in Sands Point, have established a consortium Disability & Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP) on Persons Aging with Hearing & Vision Loss. The collaborative effort will focus on the exploration of strategies to improve outcomes for persons who are blind or visually impaired or who are deaf or hard of hearing and who are now experiencing a secondary onset of hearing loss or vision impairment as a result of the aging process. The DRRP will conduct a variety of research, development, training, and dissemination activities and evaluate model approaches for improving employment and community integration options, including more viable communication systems, for such individuals who are 55 years of age or older.

The 5-Year project, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), will be involved in the following priorities:

P.1 Investigate the prevalence of age-related onset of deafness among older American blind individuals and age-related onset of blindness among older American deaf individuals and the impact on the employment and community integration options, including more viable communication systems for each population;

P.2 Identify and evaluate technology and service delivery options, such as transportation, housing, and community integration activities for individuals with early onset deafness or blindness and late onset hearing or vision loss and their effectiveness with persons experiencing secondary sensory loss resulting from aging;

P.3 Identify and evaluate access to use of technologies, including assistive devices and telecommunication or other existing communication systems, such as tactile interpreter support, needed to assist persons with early onset deafness or blindness and late onset hearing or vision loss and their effectiveness with persons experiencing secondary sensory loss resulting from aging; and

P.4 Using available dissemination mechanisms, with appropriate assistive technical modification, disseminate findings, and develop strategies to educate both consumers and providers, especially vocational rehabilitation workers, in use of the these techniques.

The Advisory Council/Participation Action Research (PAR) Team will provide guidance and direction to Project Staff. Every effort will be made to solicit direct input from key stakeholders (including persons who are hard of hearing, deaf or late deafened blind or visually impaired, and deaf-blind; service providers, primary caregivers, and employers) as part of the ongoing planning, development and implementation of the DRRP's research activities. A study population that includes a balanced sample of individuals who are blind and who are losing their hearing, as well as older individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and losing their vision will be surveyed periodically throughout the project. Efforts will be made to coordinate all research efforts with appropriate state agency personnel including the Title VII-Chapter 2 Older Blind Independent Living Project Directors, Vocational Rehabilitation State Coordinators for the Deaf and Deaf-Blind, and consumer groups such as the Blinded Veteran=s Association, the National Association of the Deaf, the American Association of the Deaf-Blind, National Federation of the Blind, American Council of the Blind, Self-Help for Hard of Hearing, the Association of Late Deafened Adults, and resources such as the HKNC register which contains more than 2,000 individuals who are over the age of 55. All research staff and survey instruments are being cleared by the MSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects.