In recognition of the achievements, contributions, and potential of people who are DeafBlind, the Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults (HKNC) celebrates the last week of June as “DeafBlind Awareness Week.” This year, DeafBlind Awareness Week runs June 25-July 1, 2026.
This national advocacy campaign has been observed annually since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation establishing this special week of recognition. The purpose of DeafBlind Awareness Week is to raise public awareness about individuals who have combined hearing and vision loss, a population that spans all ages, backgrounds, and communities across the country.
An estimated 2.4 million Americans experience combined hearing and vision loss — a population that includes individuals who identify as DeafBlind. DeafBlind individuals are educators, advocates, professionals, artists, and leaders who enrich our communities through their unique perspectives, lived experience, and remarkable achievements.
Touch is the foundation of connection for the DeafBlind community, from Protactile language, tactile sign language, and haptics to braille, assistive technology, and everyday interactions. Through touch, DeafBlind individuals communicate, navigate, learn, work, and thrive.
But touch also builds bridges of understanding between the DeafBlind community and the broader world. When professionals, providers, family members, and community members learn to connect through accessible communication and respectful interaction, barriers break down and doors open to fuller participation, deeper understanding, and genuine belonging.
Each interaction, whether in a doctor’s office, classroom, workplace, or community space, is an opportunity to build a bridge and demonstrate that meaningful connection transcends traditional communication methods. This year’s campaign celebrates the transformative power of touch and the connections it makes possible across every space we share.
Ashley Benton, Director of Field Services at Helen Keller National Center, shares our 2026 DeafBlind Awareness Week campaign announcement in ASL.
Audio description: A light skinned woman with platinum hair and glasses is signing into the camera.
Hi, I’m Ashley, Director of Field Services at Helen Keller National Center. I’m excited to announce our 2026 DeafBlind Awareness Week campaign has launched. This year’s theme is “Connected by Touch: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.”
So why touch? Because touch is the foundation of connection for the DeafBlind community. Touch is the unifying bridge for reciprocity. Through Protactile language, tactile sign language, haptics, braille, and assistive technology, DeafBlind individuals can communicate, learn, work, and thrive every day.
Join us in learning more. Visit our campaign landing page at www.helenkeller.org/dbaw2026.
More information will be posted regularly so be sure to check out our page.
Audio description: Video fades to an image of two hands connected in tactile sign language. Reads: “Connected by Touch” with the Helen Keller National Center logo on top and HelenKeller.org/DBAW 2026.
[end transcript]
One of the most impactful ways to recognize DeafBlind Awareness Week in your community is to request an official proclamation from your local elected officials — your Governor, Mayor, Town Supervisor, Congressperson, or other representatives — declaring June 25–July 1, 2026 as DeafBlind Awareness Week in your community.
Proclamations raise public visibility, demonstrate official recognition of the DeafBlind community, and help establish DeafBlind Awareness Week as a recognized observance in your state, city, or region. Your advocacy makes a difference.
Download the 2026 proclamation template below, customize it with your local statistics, and submit it to your officials. If you are submitting as a coalition with other organizations, see the Coalition / Co-Signatory Version below.
Coalition / Co-Signatory Version
Partnering with other organizations to submit a joint proclamation request? This version includes language for multiple organizations to sign on together. Simply fill in your organization names along with the standard placeholders.
We are actively developing a full suite of resources to help organizations, professionals, and communities make the most of DeafBlind Awareness Week 2026. Check back often as we add new content through May 2026.
Coming to this page:
The Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults (HKNC) is the only national program providing information, referral, support, and comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services exclusively to youth and adults who are DeafBlind — as well as to the families and professionals who work with them. Through personalized training in adaptive technology, communication, orientation and mobility, independent living, and vocational services, HKNC prepares participants for meaningful employment and community independence. HKNC’s national network of regional representatives and affiliate agencies serves individuals in every U.S. state and territory.
DeafBlind Awareness Week is coordinated nationally by HKNC each year in honor of Helen Keller’s birthday, June 27.