Openhand48pp(Winter 2017)web

42 Features
Raising a Deafblind Baby
in the USA
A baby’s feet wrapped in a white blanket
A less common form of
deafblindness occurs when an
individual is born without sight
or hearing and has to rely
solely on his or her tactile
experiences to learn and
develop. This was the case for
Clarisa Vollmar, born in
Wisconsin in 2015. We spoke
to her father, Justin, about
raising a deafblind child in the
United States and raising
awareness of the condition.
“Like every other parent, we
were shocked,” says Justin.
“Then we cried but we
immediately picked ourselves
up and were determined to try
to be the best parents for
Clarisa.” Like their daughter,
both Justin and his wife are
deaf, as are their other three
children. Justin and Rachel
met at university and both
have Waardenburg Syndrome.
Justin admits that raising a
deafblind child has presented
him with a whole new set of
challenges as he has had to
“throw himself into the
deafblind world.” To
communicate with their