People with Usher 2 are born with a partial hearing loss and then develop a visual impairment called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) in their teens. This may not be diagnosed until their early twenties or even much later.
What does this mean?
People are born with a moderate to severe hearing loss which often remains stable throughout their life and is generally helped by hearing aids. Problems with vision are first noticed at night followed by increasing difficulty with side or peripheral vision. At times this may lead to bumping into or falling over people and objects. People may notice difficulty moving into bright light from a darker place or vice versa. However, they may have adapted to these changes already, particularly in familiar situations.
What does the future hold?
In most cases people retain good reading vision well into middle age. There is no treatment available for Usher at the moment. Research is taking place in a number of universities in Europe and the USA, which is looking into the types of Usher, the genes that are involved and what messages the genes are passing to the cells. However, much can be done to help people make the best use of their vision and hearing.
Communication
Most people with Usher type 2 will be born with a partial hearing loss and so will probably use speech and lipreading in addition to a hearing aid to communicate. In many cases, attending mainstream school means that they are likely to feel part of the hearing rather than the deaf world.
Hearing Sight Impaired Group (HSI)
People with Usher Type 2 can be members of Hearing Sight Impaired UK. HSI consists of visually impaired hearing aid users, many, but not all of whom, have Usher Types 2 or 3. The HSI Group organises social events, conferences and other events.
