When Language Access Is at Risk: Children of Parents With Deafblindness and the Role of Societal Support

This commentary emphasizes the child's position and the right to develop language that enables communication with a parent who has deafblindness. We argue that societal services have a responsibility to ensure that this right is fulfilled. Deafblindness affects access to information and communication and has implications for family life when a parent has deafblindness. In such families, shared communication is essential for emotional bonds, parenting, and children's development, yet it often requires adaptations beyond spoken or visual sign language, including tactile and social haptic and other forms of communication.

This commentary is based on a research project on family life and health in families where a parent has deafblindness and is grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in which we emphasize societal responsibility for supporting children's language development.

The argument of the right for the child to develop language that enables communication with a parent with deafblindness and the responsibility of societal services is illustrated in the Swedish context. In Sweden, there is no syllabus for mother tongue instruction in Swedish Sign Language, which may reduce access to formal sign language education and undermine children's rights.

We discuss implications for education and family-centered services and argue that supportive interventions should target the entire family to promote shared language, inclusion, and children's well-being. To raise awareness of children of parents with deafblindness, we suggest the concept "children of deafblind adults," acknowledging their belonging to a cultural and linguistic minority.