Is a decline in vision and hearing just a “fact of life” for people as we age?

Dual sensory impairment is an under-explored and little understood type of disability, but one which can have an enormous impact on those living with it and their partners, families, and carers. The number of people who are living with impairments to both sight and hearing is rapidly increasing as the global population ages, yet the challenges faced as a result are largely invisible. The Third Sense explores the experiences of older adults living with multiple or dual sensory loss, the social consequences, barriers, and stigma faced by people and their loved ones.

Drawn from the lived experience of both the authors and their research participants, this book is necessary and urgent reading for medical practitioners, clinicians, health workers, and social care providers in practice and training; higher education students of Disability Studies, Medicine and related courses, Social Work and related courses, Sociology, and Cultural Anthropology.

Annmaree Watharow MD, PhD is an academic and medical doctor with lived experience of dual sensory impairment. Moira Dunsmore RN, PhD is an academic and registered nurse with first-hand experience caring for older adults with multiple sensory loss. They are co-founders of a dual sensory impairment special interest group, and the dual sensory impairment project (www.dsiproject.org), based at the University of Sydney.