Visual Impairments and Hearing Loss

Visual Impairments

• There are two main functional categories of visual impairments: Low Vision and Blind.

• Low vision students usually are print users , but may require special equipment and materials.

• Legal blindness- The clinical diagnosis refers to a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.

Degrees of Visual Impairments

• "Partially sighted" indicates some type of visual problem has resulted in a need for special education.

• "Low vision" generally refers to a severe visual impairment, not necessarily limited to distance vision. Low vision applies to all individuals with sight who are unable to read the newspaper at a normal viewing distance, even with the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses.

Degrees (continued)

• They use a combination of vision and other senses to learn, although they may require adaptations in lighting or the size of print, and, sometimes, braille.

• "Legally blind" indicates that a person has less than 20/200 vision in the better eye or a very limited field of vision (20 degrees at its widest point) .

• Totally blind students learn via braille or other non-visual media .

General Information

• Visual impairment is the consequence of a functional loss of vision, rather than the eye disorder itself.

• Eye disorders which can lead to visual impairments can include retinal degeneration, albinism, cataracts, glaucoma, corneal disorders, diabetic retinopathy, congenital disorders, and infection.

Incidence

• The rate at which visual impairments occur in individuals under the age of 18 is 12.2 per 1,000.

• Severe visual impairments (legally or totally blind) occur at a rate of .06 per 1,000.

• As a result, Visual Impairments are classified as a low incidence disability.

Educational Implications

• Children with visual impairments should be assessed early to benefit from early intervention programs, when applicable.

• Technology in the form of computers and low-vision optical and video aids enable many partially sighted, low vision and blind children to participate in regular class activities.

• Large print materials, books on tape, and braille books are available.

Implications (continued)

• Students with visual impairments may need additional help with special equipment and modifications in the regular curriculum to emphasize listening skills, communication, and daily living skills.

• Students with low vision or those who are legally blind may need help in using their residual vision more efficiently and in working with special aids and materials.

Hearing Loss

• Includes "hearing impairment" and "deafness" as two of the categories under which children with disabilities may be eligible for special education and related service programming.

• While the term "hearing impairment" is often used generically to describe a wide range of hearing losses, including deafness, the regulations for IDEA define hearing loss and deafness separately.

Hearing Impairment

• Hearing impairment is defined by IDEA as "an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance."

• Deafness is defined as "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification."

Difference between Hearing Loss and Deafness

• Thus, deafness may be viewed as a condition that prevents an individual from receiving sound in all or most of its forms.

• In contrast, a child with a hearing loss can generally respond to auditory stimuli, including speech.

Characteristics

• Sound is measured by its loudness or intensity (measured in units called decibels, dB) and its frequency or pitch (measured in units called hertz, Hz).

• Impairments in hearing can occur in either or both areas, and may exist in only one ear or in both ears. Hearing loss is generally described as slight, mild, moderate, severe, or profound.

Hearing Loss

• Generally, only children whose hearing loss is greater than 90 decibels (dB) are considered deaf for the purposes of educational placement.

• There are four types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing losses are caused by diseases or obstructions in the outer or middle ear (the conduction pathways for sound to reach the inner ear).

Hearing Loss (continued)

• Conductive hearing losses usually affect all frequencies of hearing evenly and do not result in severe losses.

• A person with a conductive hearing loss usually is able to use a hearing aid well or can be helped medically or surgically.

• Sensorineural hearing losses result from damage to the delicate sensory hair cells of the inner ear or the nerves which supply it.

Visual Acuity

• Legal blindness describes an individual who, with the possible corrections in the better eye, has a measured visual acuity of 20/200 or worse or a visual field restricted to 20 degrees or less.

• Visual acuity is defined as how clearly an individual can see a designated object a distance of 20 feet.

• Visual acuity (VA) is clearness of vision.

Visual Field

• The space or range within which objects are visible to the immobile eyes at a given time. Also called field of vision.

• The normal human visual field extends to approximately 60 degrees nasally (toward the nose, or inward) in each eye, to 100 degrees temporally (away from the nose, or outwards), and approximately 60 degrees above and 75 below the horizontal meridian.

What is 20/20 vision?

• If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance.

• If you have 20/200 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet.

• 20/20 does not necessarily mean perfect vision. 20/20 vision only indicates the sharpness or clarity of vision at a distance.

Near and Far Sightedness

• Some people can see well at a distance, but are unable to bring nearer objects into focus. This condition can be caused by hyperopia (farsightedness).

• Others can see items that are close, but cannot see those far away. This condition may be caused by myopia (nearsightedness).

• Hyperopia and Myopia are two visual impairments caused by refractive errors.

Refractive Errors

• Your cornea is the clear front part of your eye. • It is like a window that controls and focuses

the light coming into the eye. • If your cornea has an irregular shape, the light

does not focus properly. Everything looks blurry. This is a refractive error.

• Glasses or contact lenses can usually correct refractive errors. Laser eye surgery may also be a possibility.

Large Print

• The most widely used reading accommodation for student with visual impairments is large print.

• Other accommodations are Braille, audio tapes, and being read to.

• For a student to receive educational services from a special education teacher specializing in visual impairment, the student must have a documented visual impairment.

Visual Impairment Skills

• Mobility refers to the ability of blind individuals to move with ease, speed, and safety through the environment.

• Compensatory skills (such as the use of touch or hearing) help students succeed as an independent blind people.

• Orientation is the ability to understand where one is located in space.

Hearing Impairment

• Interpreters provide a communication link between students who are deaf and hearing individuals (interpreters are not assistive technology {AT}).

• Young children identified as having hearing losses before thy learn language (2 to 3 years old) are identified as prelingually deaf.

• Tape recorder, Brailer, and hearing aid are AT.

Difference between Hard of Hearing and Deafness

• Hard of hearing students develop communication and learning skills based on speech rather than vision.

• In contrast, students who are deaf use vision as their primary mode of communication and learning.

• It has been reported that 71% of students who are deaf and hard of hearing are attending public schools with hearing peers.

Communicating when Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

• American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual, gestural language. It is a full complete language with its own grammar and usage.

• Hearing aids are the most common form of amplification that increases sounds in the environment for those with hearing loss.

• Viewing hearing loss not as a disability but as a common characteristic among a group of individuals is a belief of members of the deaf culture.

Orthopedic Impairments (OI)

• OI is a bodily impairment that is severe enough to negatively affect a child’s educational performance. This category includes all orthopedic impairments, regardless of cause.

• Like impairments due to congenital anomaly (clubfoot or absence of some member), impairments due to the effects of disease, and impairments from other causes (cerebral palsy, amputations, fractures, or burns).

Neurological Impairment

• An abnormal performance due to a dysfunction of the brain, spinal cord, or nerves.

• Spina bifida is a neurological impairment.• Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the

incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings.

• Physical disabilities and health impairments caused by traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury are preventable.

Seizures in the Classroom

• The correct sequence to follow when a student has a tonic-clonic seizure in the classroom.

1.Ease the student to the floor and clear the area around him.

2.Place something soft under his head.3.Do not interfere with the seizure.4.Remain with the student until he is fully

awake.