Transcript Visual Impairments and Hearing Loss - MyPortfolio

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 lowvision 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.