YARNBOMBING EVENT SHOWCASES DEAFBLIND AWARENESS MONTH

THE TACTILE EXHIBIT IS TO DRAW ATTENTION TO PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO EXPERIENCE HEARING AND VISION LOSS

You're meant to reach over and feel the yarn squares woven around the columns at the Innisfil IdeaLAB and Library's Lakeshore branch.

The yarnbombing art instalment is to raise awareness of National Deafblind Awareness

Month in June.

"This is tactile, something that draws attention out in the community as people come by," DeafBlind Ontario Services community engagement manager Shannon Girard said.

It is the third year of the partnership, held in June to celebrate the famous author and activist Helen Keller's birth month.

Girard said one per cent of the population is deafblind, experiencing both hearing and vision loss. In Simcoe County, five individuals are supported in the program.

Girard said deafblind residents are still active participants in the community, and many are supported in jobs with an intervener who acts as their eyes and ears.

"We can sign to them if they have a bit of vision, and if they can't see and hear, we use a (tactile sign language), so that anything

you or I see, or hear, we can communicate to them."

And they can also knit,

crochet or loom, as they helped put the display together, along with community partners.