Overall Population Demographics

The total December 1, 2018 Deaf-Blind “Snap Shot” count decreased to 9,904; a drop of 96 from 2017. This decline is not unexpected in the first year of a new grant cycle. New state and national project staff often look at data more closely as they establish new data management procedures. Overall, the total number of children and youth served during the year increased slightly from 10,950 to 11,081.

The distribution of children/youth across age groups has remained relatively stable over the past five years. Since 2014, the number of children from birth to 2 years of age has increased from 561 to 647 in 2018. The number of children aged 3 to 5 increased only slightly, from 1,165 in 2014 to 1,276 in 2018. The number of children and youth aged 6 to 17 increased from 6,095 to 6,461. The number of those 18 years of age and older also increased from 1,535 to 1,620.

The racial/ethnic makeup of the children and youth who are deaf-blind has also remained relatively consistent over the past 5 years. There have been slight changes, but nothing significant. For example, the percentage of the population identified as white decreased from 54.3% to 53.2%. The percentage of the population identified as black or African American rose slightly from 14.2% to 14.3%. The percentage identified as Latino or Hispanic shows a slight decrease from 20.0% to 19.7%. The other categories have experienced minor variations as well.

The distribution of children and youth by gender has also remained very stable over time, with about 54% of children and youth being male and 46% female.