Sensory Impairment

The table above displays support strategies for Students with Sensory Impairments (Visual & Auditory)

A definition of the specific condition/disability

There are three different sensory impairments; hearing, vision, and deafblind.

1. Hearing – Limitation, impairment, or absence of the capacity to hear with amplification, resulting in one or more of the following: reduced performance in hearing acuity tasks, difficulty with oral communication, and/or difficulty in understanding auditorally presented information in the education environment. The term includes students who are deaf, as well as, students who are hard of hearing.

2. Vision – Limitation, impairment, or absence of capacity to see after correction resulting in one or more of the following: reduced performance in visual acuity tasks, difficulty with written communication, and/or difficulty with understanding information presented visually in the education environment. The term includes students who are blind and students with limited vision.

3. Deafblind – Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs.

A list of characteristics of the particular condition/disability

1. Hearing - The individual patterns of children with a hearing impairment can vary widely. Some children are hard of hearing, others have prelingual deafness (meaning they were born deaf), and some may have a postlingual hearing loss (meaning they were born with normal hearing but lost their hearing after they learned to speak). Some characteristics of these children who suffer from hearing impairments can include slightly delayed language development and lack of social maturity. Many of these students are taught sign language and a good amount of them also depend on hearing aides and lip reading.

2. Vision - There is a wide variation in the development of children with visual impairments. However, many children with visual impairments seem to suffer cognitively and linguistically. Students that endure a lack of vision may also deal with some cognitive problems because it limits the integrating experiences and the understanding of those experiences that the visual sense brings naturally to sighted children. Children with visual impairments may also have difficulty in language development because these students had less understanding of words as vehicles of, or as standing for, concrete experiences, and they were slower than sighted children to form hypotheses about word meaning.

3. Deafblind – Students that have both a hearing impairment and a visual impairment have a combination of both characteristics. They often have delayed language development and delayed social maturity. Not only because they have difficulty hearing but also because they have had less understanding of words as vehicles of experiences. These students also suffer from some cognitive problems as a result of their limitation of integrating experiences and understanding of those experiences that the visual sense would normally bring.

A review of how students with the condition/ disability commonly differ from typical human growth and developmental patterns

1. Hearing – Students with hearing impairments do not differ that much from the typical child. The majority of children with hearing conditions show typical growth and development physically; however, they are commonly shown to have slightly delayed language development and social maturity. Students who suffer from hearing problems also tend to have trouble with articulation.

2. Vision – The Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education funded a study that enabled the investigators to assemble data on a population of 202 children receiving services from these sites and to draw some conclusions about their visual acuity, behavior, temperament, and environment in an effort to discover any differences between these children and typical children of a similar age. They found that the majority of developmental milestones for visually impaired students were delayed, in comparison to those of typical children. Also, measures of social maturity and cognitive development showed delay. Students that suffer from visual impairments tend to have greater strength in their other senses because they are forced to depend on them more frequently.

3. Deafblind – Students that have both a hearing impairment and a visual impairment differ drastically in growth and development when compared to the typical person. Children who are deafblind have a combination of both characteristics. Many of these children have delayed developmental milestones in comparison to those of a typical child. These students frequently suffer from delayed social maturity and language development. These children have extreme difficulty acquiring language and their cognitive development often lags.

A summary of instructional strategies including accommodations, modifications, and assistive technologies that may assist a student with this condition/disability in making educational progress

1. Hearing – Some accommodations and assistive technologies that students with hearing impairments may take advantage of are the use of headphones or hearing aides. Some teachers may also choose to use a microphone in class, so that the hearing impaired student(s) are able to hear them. Teachers may also use pictures and visual prompts to support problem solving and they should make sure all directions are written down in clear steps.
2. Vision – There are a variety of instructional strategies that teachers can use to help students with visual impairments. Some of these include, color coding information, black and white clearly printed handouts and highlighting direction words. For those students who are completely blind teachers can use Braille books, read out loud to students or use books on tape. Teachers also may choose to use graph paper with large squares to keep numbers organized or use large print on worksheets.
3. Deafblind – Normally, students who are deafblind are not completely deaf and blind. They usually have some functioning hearing or sight. Because of this teachers are able to use a variety of the accommodations. If students have more function in their sight, teachers are able to supply these students with modifications where they use their vision, rather than their hearing. Some of these accommodations include, color coding information, large printed text handouts, highlighting direction words, and the option to reduce the glare when using a computer screen. If students have more function in their hearing, teachers are able to supply these students with modifications where they use their hearing, rather than their sight. Some of these accommodations include hearing aides or headphones. Many teachers who deal with this issue also choose to use a microphone in class. Classroom teachers may also use books on tape or may even choose to read aloud to these students.

A review of some of the major federal laws regarding special education

Some of the major federal laws regarding special education that deal with sensory impairments are IDEA 2004 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992. IDEA 2004 involves improving the quality of personnel (teachers and administrators), developing IEP (individualized education programs) standards, and offering transition services. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 extends civil rights to persons with disabilities. It is determined to see that children with disabilities have equal access to educational resources and cannot be discriminated against solely on the basis of their disabilities.

A descriptor of a community, state, or national organization or agency that provides assistance to individuals with the particular condition/disability and their families

An organization that provides help and assistance to the sensory impaired is Hearts and Minds - Information for Change. This agency provides service and support to those who are hearing impaired, visually impaired, or deafblind. They provide information about various impairments and places where you can receive help.

Anastasiow, N., Coleman, MR., Gallagher, J., & Kirk, S. (2009). Educating Exceptional Children: Twelfth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.