Sensory Disabilities

1. Sensory Disabilities

2. Goals for Today • Define sensory disabilities • Blindness • Deafness • Deaf-Blindness • Discuss how sensory disabilities affect learning • Describe strategies for intervention • Quiz • Rosebud… • Lesson Planning

3. What are sensory disabilities? • Blindness • Deafness • Hard of Hearing • Deaf-Blindness

4. Blindness • IDEA: Visual impairment, including blindness: An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

5. Types and Severity of Blindness • Totally Blind • Low Vision • Legally Blind • Light perception • Functional Vision Loss • Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment

6. Common Vision Impairments in Early Childhood • Ambylopia • Strabisimus • Myopia • Hypermetropia • Astigmatism • Color • Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) • Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) • Nystagmus

7. What can blindness affect? • Development of play skills • Social interaction problems • Language and Communication

8. Teaching Children with Visual Impairments • Don’t assume that they “can’t” learn or will get hurt! • Try to keep the physical layout of the room consistent • Allow and facilitate exploration of the environment • Of course, involve family and parents in the process! • Facilitate social interaction and encourage communication using nonvisual means • Must consider Braille for any child that is blind or may become blind

9. Deafness and Hard of Hearing IDEA: Deafness: A hearing impairment so severe that the child cannot understand what is being said even with a hearing aid. Hearing impairment: An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness as listed above.

10. Deaf-Blindness IDEA: Deaf-blindness: A combination of hearing and visual impairments causing such severe communication, develop-mental, and educational problems that the child cannot be accommodated in either a program specifically for the deaf or a program specifically for the blind.

11. Vision 17% totally blind/light perception 24% legally blind 17% cortical vision impairment 21% other Hearing 39% severe to profound hearing loss 13% moderate hearing loss 6% Central Auditory Processing Disorder 28% other Additional Disabilities 66% Intellectual Disability 57% physical disability 38% complex health care needs 9% behavioral challenges 30% other Reported impairments in children who are deafblind (Kiloren, 2007)

12. Supporting Children who are Deafblind (Chen, Alsop, & Minor, 2000) • Figure out child cues • Identify preferred items and dislikes that can be used for teaching • Establish routines • Use routines to teach turn-taking • Use communication temptations to teach

13. For More Information Chen, D., Alsop, L., & Minor, L. (2000). Lessons from Project PLAI: Implications for early intervention in California and Utah. Deaf-Blind Perspectives, 7, 1-8. Federal statutory definitions of disability Retrieved 9/3/2009, 2009, from http://www.icdr.us/documents/definitions.htm Killoran, J. (2007). The national deaf­blind child count: 1998–  2005 in review. Monmouth, OR: National Technical Assistance  Consortium for Children and Young Adults who are Deaf­Blind  (NTAC), Teaching Research Institute, Western Oregon University.  Available at http://nationaldb.org/NCDBProducts.php?prodID=57