Lesson 6: Responsive Teaching Strategies Blog- Alie friedman

 

Vision and Hearing Impairments 👀👂

By: Allie Friedman

 

 

 

Description of vision impairments disability-

 

IDEA ‘04 Definition: visual impairments, including blindness , means that there is an impairment in vision that even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

 

 

 Different types of vision loss: 

• Peripheral Vision (tunnel vision, restricted central vision )

• Visual Acuity 

 

Three factors in impaired vision

1. Degree of loss ( low vision and blindness) 

2. Age of onset (cognitive blindness , adventitious blindness ) 

3. The type of loss ( conditions of the eye, eye muscles, cornea, iris , lens, retina, and the optic nerve) 

 

 

Blind Students :

• Read braille 

• Orientation and mobility

• Social skills 

 

 

Students with low vision: 

• Read standard print / enlarged print

• The majority of these students learn to read , write, and use vision to function in society. 

 

 

 

Causes-

~caused by genetics 

 

~medical technology now either corrects or lessons the impact of a visual disability 

 

~medical technology adds to the number of visual disabilities by expanding the survival rates of baby’s with multiple disabilities and premature baby’s.

 

 

Prevention- 

~Safety precautions ( avoiding eye injuries at all costs) .

~Consistent and early treatments.

~Having the proper access to healthcare.

 

 

Teaching Students with Visual Loss 

• Curriculum targets include: 

-Life Skills 

-Independence Skills 

-Orientation and Mobility 

Literacy

 

• The Methods of reading and writing include:

-Enlarged print 

-Braille

-Print to voice translations 

 

 

 

Strategies that can be implemented to support them in the classroom, including partnerships with families and communities:

 

• Instructional Accommodations (extended time, detailed descriptions of instruction, reduction/changes made to the assignment , and use of computers)

• Lighting adjustments

• Seating adjustments

• Making text bigger on assignments 

• Use of optical Devices ( includes magnifiers, glasses, telescopes) 

• Electronic video magnifiers ( includes handheld , portable, desktop, visiobook)

• bold/ raised line paper , bold marker

• Writing guides 

• Auditory supports ( includes scan and read systems, built in screen readers, talking scientific and graphing calculators)

• Literacy softwares ( includes dual color highlighting, word prediction, synthesized speech , and graphic organizers)

• Braille materials present 

• Barrier free environments 

• Cozy classroom settings 

• Good communication on everyone's end is KEY

• Help the students become Independent

• Help the student with their social and fine and gross skills

• Student needs guidance for there mobility skills and cognition skills to be developed 

 

 

There needs to be strong partnerships made between the parents and educators mainly to help these students overcome their difficulties. 

 

 

 

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Description of hearing impairments disability : 

 

People who are deaf: 

• Have profound hearing loss 

• Can barely hear, even with a hearing aid, and can be divided into being congenitally deaf, pre lingually deaf, and post lingually deaf. 

 

People who are hard of hearing:

• They have loss of hearing that impairs their understanding of communication along with sounds. 

 

 

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEARING LOSS:

• Conductive Hearing Loss: When sound waves can’t travel into the inner ear 

• Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Is caused by damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve. 

 

 

Difference between Deaf (capital D) and deaf (lower case d)

 

Deaf: 

• Don’t use oral language 

• Are members that are part of a community 

• Are not considered to be “disabled” but are considered to be a part of a minority group by its members. 

• ASL is used as the primary language 

 

deaf:

• Use oral communication sometimes 

• 83% of children who are deaf , have parents that can hear

 

 

Causes and Prevention:

Some of the known causes: 

• Heredity and genetics

• Meningitis

• Otitis media

• Noise

 

Ways to prevent:

• Immunizations

• Noise abatement

 

 

 

Overcoming these challenges: 

• Hearing Aids- These heighten sounds for people who struggle with hearing… There’s two different types of hearing aids: Analog AND Digital… analog hearing aids make sounds louder ( background noises and speech) … digital hearing aids automatically adjust the volume by increasing noises to the degree that’s necessary. 

• Cochlear Implants- These are implanted surgically with four parts included within the implant. There’s  a microphone, speech processor, transmitter and an electrode array included within the implant. 

 

Strategies that can be implemented to support them in the classroom, including partnerships with families and communities:

 

• Early intervention

• Hearing Screening (part of the pre referral process)

• Auditory Assessments

• Hearing Aids/ Cochlear implants

 

• Instructional Accommodations (Teacher’s communications, additional teacher assistance, assistance from other classmates)

• Make sure to take different types of educational approaches for students who are deaf or hard of hearing ( Cued Speech, manual communications only, oral methods only, try the bilingual/bicultural approach, and have total communication throughout the classroom) 

• Technology !!  

 -Assistive Devices made for listening: Frequency modulated transmission devices (FM) , hearing aids, and cochlear implants 

-Telecommunication Devices: Captions (cc) (oc), rear window captioning , and telephones. 

-Alerting Devices: For security and safety purposes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping people with hearing impairments be able to transition from school to work programs would be beneficial and would improve adult outcomes such as:

-earning a fair and good wage

- making jobs more enjoyable for people with these disabilities

- creating a high success rate for Gallaudet graduates

-obtaining fair employment. 

 

 

** It's important for teachers and educational interpreters to be able to work together as a team. They need to be able to plan and organize together, set up meetings, and manage and organize the classroom.**

 

• Some examples on what teachers and educational interpreters need to work on together are: 

-That the interpreter and the student must see the teacher together

-The placement shouldn’t be a distraction to other student

-Courtesy and social convention should be taken into consideration, everyone should be talking to the student and using eye contact  

 

** It’s also really important for families to accept their child and make them feel included** 

 

~it’s completely normal for families to be experiencing stress with the adjustments that they have to make, but they should start developing coping strategies quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cited Sources: 

 

Hearing Loss In The Classroom, Pediatric Audiology Project, 27 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8NHzVfJkQ&t=2s. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022. 

 

Tips for Teaching Deaf Children with a Mild Hearing Loss, National Deaf Children's Society, 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jylb7TDn2Tk. 

 

“Assistive Technology for Visual Impairments or Blindness.” Performance by Kimberly Berry, Oklahoma ABLE Tech Assistive Technology and Information, 2014. 

 

Smith, Deborah Deutsch. “Chapter 10 Deaf and Hard of Hearing .” Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference, edited by Naomi Chowdhuri Tyler, Seventh edition ed., Pearson, 2010, pp. 1–23. 

 

 

Smith, Deborah Deutsch. “Chapter 11.” Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference, edited by Naomi Chowdhuri Tyler, Seventh edition edPearson, 2010, pp. 1–19. 

 

Nus, Duke. “Treating Vision and Hearing Problems Early Can Contribute to Longer Years in Good Health among Older Adults.” Singapore General Hospital, Tomorrow's Medicine, 15 Aug. 2019, www.google.com/search?q=vision+and+hearing+impairment&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwixiebpy7D3AhUQHd8KHTQtBb0Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=vision+and+hearing+impairment&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQyBAgAEBhQ9gZY9gZgzQhoAHAAeACAAU2IAY8BkgEBMpgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=50xnYvH5JpC6_Aa02pToCw&bih=727&biw=1316&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS922US922#imgrc=xgi2tP8jCbKHLM&imgdii=Utuzacjz8_LbsM. 

 

 

 

Lesson 5: Responsive Teaching Strategies Blog - Allie Friedman

♿ 🏫 Intellectual and Physical/Health Disabilities ♿ 🏫  

By: Allie Friedman

 

Description of disabilities: 

Intellectual disabilities: 

• Learning is a lot harder for students with intellectual disabilities  than it is for typical learners

• Problems with general mental abilities that affect intellectual and adaptive functioning.

*intellectual functioning: learning, judgment, and problem solving skills

*adaptive functioning: activity throughout someone's daily life such as independently living, and communication skills

• Extremely below average … determined by clinical judgment or IQ tests 

• How adaptive behavior is. ( Conceptual, social, and practical behaviors are all factors of adaptive behavior) 

• Occurs before the age of 18

• A significant sub-average intellectual functioning exists simultaneously with deficits in adaptive behavior 

• Three defining characteristics of intellectual disabilities  are cognition, adaptive behavior , and needing support to be able to sustain independence. 

• Students with intellectual disabilities might require instructional accommodations…for some students the academic content might need more changes to the original curriculum even such as reduction or alteration of assignments. 

Physical/Health Disabilities: 

• Students with physical disabilities have problems with the functioning or structure of their bodies.

•  The impairments are caused by congenital anomaly, disease, and other causes such as cerebral palsy and amputations. 

• There are  neuromotor impairments involved with physical disabilities that involve muscles, nerves, and motor functions. This includes seizures, cerebral palsy, polio, spinal cord disorders, muscular dystrophy,  and multiple sclerosis.

• There are also Muscle/ Skeletal conditions that affect bones or muscles that result in limited functioning such as juvenile arthritis, limb deficiencies, and skeletal disorders.  

• Surgeries and shunts are effective for kids with physical disabilities.

• Wheelchairs, prosthetic devices, and computers are all good assistive devices. 

• 
  

• Students with  healthcare disabilities have limited strength, chronic or acute health problems, and affected educational performance. 

• Healthcare disabilities include chronic illnesses ( asthma , childhood cancer, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, congenital heart defects, blood disorders , and diabetes)... also include infectious diseases such as HIV and Aids, Hepatitis B, and STORCH) 

• Conditions co-exist 

• Not all conditions require special educational services but a lot do. 

Strategies that can be implemented to support students with Intellectual disabilities in the classroom: 

• Supports for people with ID are offered by four levels of intensity 

*Intermittent - are provided as needed ; usually during life span transitions 

*Limited -time limited supports such as transitional supports or employment training 

*Extensive - regular involvement in some environments ; isn’t time limited 

*Pervasive - daily involvement ; long term support 

• Data Based Practices that help with self determination skills ( helps them self-advocate, make choices, set goals , problem solve, and judge their own performance. )

• Technology ( Ebuddies email system that lets students who have intellectual disabilities  connect with each other across the nation… this gives them motivation to use computers along with other systems of communication)  

• Explicit instruction on how to use computers along with other computer systems and just really detailed interaction are a key component of the curriculum for students with intellectual disabilities. 

Partnerships with families and communities that can help support students with ID: 

- Teacher’s should create meaningful relationships with the students families 
-Teacher’s need to understand that the family members of the student with the disability support should extend far beyond the school day, including the years after school is completed. 
-Schools need to make sure the whole family unit is included in planning meetings about the students educational program
-Therapeutic recreation specialists can help students have a better presence and participation in community events that can overall lead to less loneliness and unhappiness. 
-Physical education classes can help students develop more muscle strength through exercises that are safe.
-Develop extracurricular activities and involvement ( this will require collaboration between teachers and related service providers but it’s very necessary )

- Families need to support there kids as best as possible and not get discouraged.

Strategies that can be implemented to support students with Physical/Health disabilities in the classroom:

Teacher’s can help by:

-keeping areas of play and objects disinfected 

-having students wash hands frequently

-refer students who are sick to the school nurse and parents 

-using disposable gloves when cleaning an accident up

- using extremely hygienic precautions- Creating advances in assistive devices such as wheelchairs, computers, and prosthetic devices-pay close attention to any changes in health or physical status of their students -create testing accommodations to make students more comfortable (extra time, changing the setting to make it distraction-free, read the directions aloud and make them more simple, and assist the students during testing by reading each question)- realize that every student has individual needs and also create an environment for learning that is free from physical barriers that would limit movement or interactions. - create interactive activities so that students can work together.

           

- Families need to be supported and should be encouraged to turn to schools and teachers for help because it can be very overwhelming for parents with children who have special health care needs. 

- Communication must be encouraged 

- School nurses should be the community liaison, and  health interpretation to school personnel.Also, physical therapists , and occupational therapists should be involved.

- There should be high tech devices like  softwares for voice output, computers, and ventilators. 

- Creativity and individualizing the needs for each student are mainly the key to the success of making sure these students are comfortable and on task. 

Cited Sources:

Smith, Deborah Deutsch, and Naomi Chowdhuri Tyler. “Chapter 8 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” Introduction to Special Education, Seventh Edition ed., Pearson, 2010, pp. 1–22. 

Smith, Deborah Deutsch, and Naomi Chowdhuri Tyler. “Chapter 9 Physical and Health Disabilities .” Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference, seventh edition edPearson, 2010, pp. 1–24. 

What Is an Intellectual Disability ?, Special Olympics, 29 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6WmGhY8Q4I&t=1s. 

Performance by Alfred Daviso, Chapter 9 Health Disabilities, Alfred Daviso, 4 Mar. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wv98fVLg6o. 

Understanding Developmental Disabilities. 23 Mar. 2020. 

Schaepper, Mary Ann, et al. “What Is Intellectual Disability?” Psychiatry.org - What Is Intellectual Disability?, American Psychiatry Association, Aug. 2021, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/intellectual-disability/what-is-intellectual-disability.