Transcript Hearing and Vision Impairments

Defining Hearing Loss
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Dear and hard of hearing describes hearing loss
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Unilateral or bilateral
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IDEA defines deafness as a hearing impairment that is so severe
that the student is impaired in processing linguistic information
through hearing, with or without amplification and that adversely
affects the student’s education performance
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The severity of hearing loss is measured through decibels (dB)
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Deaf=70-90 dB
Harding of hearing =20-70 dB
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Congenital deafness is a rare condition
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Deaf community prefers term “deaf child” to hearing impaired
Determining the Causes
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Congenital
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Acquired
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Genetic causes
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Prenatal causes
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Postnatal causes
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Hypoxia
Rubella
Other illnesses
Premature infants
Bacterial meningitis
Acute otitis media (ear infections)
Postlingual casues
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Trauma to skull, excessive noise
Determining the Presence
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Diagnostic Assessment
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Medical personnel
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Screen all newborns for hearing loss before 1 month of age
Evaluate all infants who screen positive before 3 months of age
Early interventions (initiated before 6 months)
Otologist (physician)
Audiologist (measures hearing)
Hearing aides Cochlear implants
Big Issues
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Cochlear implant
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECT6FY4cby0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfQhyy6c7Y&feature=related
Determining the Nature of Specially
Designed Instruction and Services
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Educational evaluation
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How hearing is tested
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Audiometer
Audiogram (behavioral)
Typanograph
Speech audiometry
Vision Impairment
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Defining Visual Impairments
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Two different definitions
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Legal definition
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Based on acuity and filed of vision
IDEA definition
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Low vision
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Functionally blind
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Totally blind
Characteristics
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Incidental Learning
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The way sighted children naturally learn about their
environment
Lack of incidental learning skills can impact the
development of motor, language, cognitive and social
skills
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Limitations in range and variety of experiences
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Limitations in the ability to get around
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Limitations in interactions with the environment
Determining the causes
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Congenital vision impairments
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Occur at birth or before vision memories have been established
Adventitious vision impairments
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When a person has had normal vision but then acquires a vision loss
Determining the presence
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Determining how a student uses vision
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FVA
Provides more concrete information about a
student’s vision that may help in making IEP
decisions
Determining the appropriate reading medium
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Finding the appropriate learning medium (learning
medium assessment)
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Braille, print, audiotapes, and access technology
Allows the IEP team to know needed
accomodations
Determining the Nature of Specially
Designed Instruction and Services
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Expanded Core Curriculum
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Compensatory and Communication Skills
Social and interaction skills
Orientation and mobility skills
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Informal assessments should include the student’s ability to
function independently
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Assessments should include the age-appropriateness of tasks
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What are the student’s peers doing?
Determine skills typically learned through incidental learning, analyze
task involvement, and begin teaching these tasks earlier
Avoid making assumptions about a student’s previously
acquired learning