Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services to Commemorate DeafBlind Awareness Week

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and friends will commemorate DeafBlind Awareness week June 25 – July 1 in honor of Oklahomans who are DeafBlind and world-famous author, educator, lecturer and disability advocate Helen Keller.

DRS’ SBVI staff will hold the 2026 DeafBlind Awareness Day from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on July 1 at Metro Tech, 1900 Springlake Drive in Oklahoma City. The event’s program will include the reading of a proclamation from Gov. Kevin Stitt honoring DeafBlind Awareness Week.

Three awards will be handed out at the event including:

• The DRS Deafblind Spokesperson Award will recognize an individual who has flourished and thrived while learning life-long skills to be independent and active in the community.
• The Community Partner Award will honor an organization, agency, legislator or business who has contributed to the independent living, life-enrichment and vocational success of people who are DeafBlind.
• Anne Sullivan Award will celebrate an individual who has made a significant, everlasting impact on the Deafblind community. Sullivan was Helen Keller’s teacher and was widely lauded for educating Keller to a high level. Keller was a person without sight, hearing or normal speech.

DeafBlind Awareness Week has been observed each year since 1984 during the last week in June, in honor of Helen Keller's birthday on June 27.

Made famous by literature, plays and film, Keller continues to be the best-known American who was DeafBlind, although she died 57 years ago.

Following a childhood illness, she learned to read braille and raised print, and to communicate with speech and sign language for the deaf with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who also had a visual disability.

DeafBlindness is a condition in which an individual has combined hearing and vision loss, thus limiting access to both auditory and visual information.   

Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a division of Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

“DeafBlind Awareness Day invites Oklahomans to stand alongside members of the DeafBlind community, advocates, clients and DRS staff in recognition of DeafBlind Awareness Week and the importance of accessibility and inclusion,” SBVI Administrator Tracy Brigham said.

SBVI provides advocacy, information and referral, evaluation, guidance and counseling services, and training in alternative skills for daily living for Oklahomans who are deaf-blind and their families. Tactile, vibratory and other equipment which assist people in communicating and receiving information are available.

“Helen Keller’s and Anne Sullivan’s legacies continue to demonstrate what is possible when barriers are reduced and opportunities are expanded,” DRS Director of Communications Mark Beutler said. “SBVI staff are honored to support Oklahomans who are DeafBlind as they pursue their goals and shape their own futures.”

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