Economics and Adults Identified as Low-Functioning Deaf

Individuals who read below second-grade level, achieve in school below fourth-grade level, or have secondary conditions in addition to deafness may be identified by state rehabilitation agency counselors or other professionals as having “low-functioning deafness” (LFD). There are an estimated 125,000 to 165,000 adults with LFD in the United States today. Most do not work, but they tend to be on federal and federal—state benefits programs, notably Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid, and Medicare. SSI recipients typically also receive Medicaid benefits, whereas those on SSDI generally receive Medicare benefits. Federal spending on adults with LFD exceeds $1 billion/year. It would be less costly to the U.S. Treasury were such beneficiaries to be rehabilitated to work. Three national demonstration projects conducted during the 1990s showed that rehabilitating many adults with LFD is both feasible and cost effective. Nevertheless, few individuals with LFD are being provided with the services they require to become and remain employed.