@ehBeth,
Please pardon the partial side-track:
A friend of mine's elederly aunt has a Helen-Keller type of affliction. Aunty, now 85, was a victim a few yrs ago of a break-in when she had lived alone. She has Usher's Syndrome and is blind and deaf as well as has balance issues. When people visited her, they contacted her and kept to a rigid schedule which she'd know in advance. This was arranged to prevent surprises and any difficulty with any authorized access and daily visits to her.
So, when she was called to the door (using device to alert), she knew it had to be a stranger. The thief at the door responded to her by immediately frisking her for items that he could steal from her. She became alarmed, grabbed a decent sized 2 by4 which she knew was there from a construction project and clobbered him on the head. When the police arrived, the thief was gone, she was OK, but a good hunk of his scalp was found on the stick. Tough old broad.
Shortly thereafter, she moved in with my friend, a nurse, where she's being looked after. This family's decision was made this way to keep her from wiping someone out. Thieves are now safe in that old neighborhood from this woman's mighty swing.