New group home for deaf-blind people on Long Island hopes to be national model

From the intro to a feature in Newsday in New York:

One in a row of brown and beige look-alike buildings, Destiny Home appears as any other 1960s duplex in Port Washington. But inside, five residents are cocooned in an environment geared for people who are blind - or almost so - and deaf.

Deaf-blindness is an unusual disability that presents a number of challenges. There are mobility problems as a result of the blindness. It is more difficult to navigate from place with low or no vision. Being hearing-impaired complicates communication. An estimated 85 percent of what anyone knows about the surrounding world is perceived through vision and hearing. When both senses are impaired, affected individuals are extraordinarily disadvantaged.

The home - a first of its kind in New York that is expected to become a model for other states - is an uber-supportive environment. The passport into it is a knowledge of American Sign Language. Designers of the home's interior took into consideration what it's like to be cut off from the world of sights and sounds.

Beds vibrate to signal an emergency. Kitchen cabinet knobs are oversized. One resident with low vision has a computerized relay system for telephone conversations, which features a live operator who appears on screen to translate a caller's spoken words into sign language. The resident's signed words are translated into spoken ones for the person with both senses.

Roland, David, Damali, Tanisha and Linda are Destiny Home's five residents. (Administrators of the home asked that residents' last names not be published to protect their families' privacy.) They range in age from early 20s through early 40s. They moved into the home last summer, each having waited for years to live in a supportive atmosphere.