SECTION 4 - What Impact does both Hearing and Vision Losses have on Learners?

As previously mentioned in the introduction section of this module, both vision and hearing losses have a tremendous impact on how learners gather information, communicate with others, develop social relationships, and retain meaningful and knowledgeable experiences. The critical components of how vision and hearing losses can impact the way a learner functions, communicates, travels, and acquires knowledge is largely determined by the following:

Age of onset. Typically, the age of onset for vision and hearing losses is divided under two categories; (a) congenital and (b) adventitious. Congenital means the loss occurred at birth or during the learner's very early developmental years (e.g., under one year of age). Adventitious means the loss occurred at a later time in the learner's development. Depending on when the vision and/or hearing loss occurred, it will provide some indication of how learners are able to use their vision and hearing. The following is a table of the combinations of congenital and adventitious vision and hearing losses.

Those learners who have been blind or have low vision from birth and acquired their hearing loss later in life (#1 and #5), will have a better understanding of sound, speech, and environmental noise.

Those learners who have been deaf or have a hearing impairment from birth and acquired their vision loss later in life (#2 and #4), will usually have a better idea of boundaries in space, visual imagery, colors, size, and concepts.

Those learners who have been blind or have low vision and have been deaf or have a hearing loss since birth (#3), will have the greatest challenges, since much of their learning must through their near senses of touch, movement, or smell.

Those learners who lost part or all of both their vision and hearing later in life (#6), usually have some idea of visual and auditory imagery that they can rely on when learning new concepts, communicating with others, and developing social relationships.

Degrees of the vision and hearing losses. Those learners who have low vision and profound hearing losses will be more apt to use their residual (e.g., remaining) vision to explore their environments, and interact with others. Those learners who have some hearing and are blind will use their residual hearing to acquire and retain information, communicate with others, and build friendships. Learners with total vision and hearing losses will often need to have the information provided to them tactually or through movement in order to gather a "clear picture" of what they are learning, what is being communicated, and what access they have to environmental events.

Partial or total vision and hearing losses. Those learners with a partial vision loss, such as when the vision in one eye is determined to be "totally blind" and the vision in the other eye is determined as "low vision," will often rely on their "better seeing eye" to gather information, learn from others, and understand concepts. (Refer to Module 2 for more information about vision losses and Module 3 for more information about hearing losses.) It is important to understand that for these learners to access information that is presented, they need to have the information presented at the appropriate distance and within their fields of vision.

Learners also may have one ear that has a mild hearing loss (e.g., hearing is 20 dB and one ear may have a profound hearing loss (e.g., hearing is 90 dB). (Refer to Module 2 for more information about vision losses and Module 3 for more information about hearing losses.) Learners with this condition will often rely on their "better hearing ear" to understand information and communication that is provided to them auditorily. It is important to understand that in order for these learners to clearly access the information, they need (a) optimal placement in the classroom; and, (b) if they have aided devices, the devices are turned on, working, and set at the appropriate levels in order for them to make the most of communicative interactions.

The loss is fluctuating, permanent, or late onset due to the syndrome, medication, or medical procedure. Learners with deafblindness often have vision and hearing losses that can fluctuate depending on their type of condition, medication influences, or if they have had some type of medical procedure. Their vision and hearing could be affected due to the type of change in medication. For example, seizure medications often affect vision, as well as balance. Individuals with Usher II Syndrome often do not lose a majority of their vision until adulthood. Other learners may have a cochlear implant (a surgical procedure in which the transmitter channels sound to the cochlea that is stimulated by electrodes that have been surgically implanted). During the learning curve for learners with cochlear implants, they are taught how to interpret those signals into sound units providing the settings are at the appropriate levels. (Refer to Module 2 for more information about vision losses and Module 3 for more information about hearing losses.)

The age of onset of vision and hearing losses, the degree of vision and hearing losses, if the losses are partial or total, and if the losses fluctuate, are progressive, or are affected by medical treatments is important information to help learners with deafblindness obtain a clear picture about present, past, and future events within their environments. This information helps learners, their family members, their educators, and their friends adjust communication styles (e.g., from visual to tactual), modify instruction (e.g., from line drawings to raised drawings), and adjust positioning (e.g., speaking to the learner using the "better listening ear"). This is especially helpful to reduce frustration or increase their opportunities to access information.

Task for Completion and Discussion #4:

Using the information that you learned from completing Task #2, provide a short description of how you think the above conditions impacted your person's abilities to use their vision and hearing for gathering information about their environments based on their personal testimonies.

For More Information:

If you would like further information:

    Deaf-Blind Perspectives
    Type in the URL: http://www.tr.wou.edu/tr/dbp/
    Click on the link: ARCHIVES
    Click on the link: Browse by Volume
    Click on the link that is associated with your topic.

    Sense Newsletter
    Type in the URL: http://www.sense.org/uk

    Indiana Deafblind Services Project
    Type in the URL: http://www.indstate.edu/soe/blumberg/Deafblind.html
    Click on the link: Indiana Deafblind Services Project Loan Library
    Pull down the box: keyword
    Type in the key word: Remarkable Conversations
    Click on the link: Abstract by the resource title
    Click in the checkbox for checking out the resource