Supporting Students Who Have Sensory Disabilities August 2004

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Supporting Students Who Have Sensory
DisabilitiesAugust 2004
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Paraeducator Development Plan Menu(to be used in
conjunction with Paraeducators Personal
Development Plan)
Directions This menu is a tool for you to use as
you progress through the Paraeducator Course.
Whenever you come across topics about which you
would like more information, place a checkmark
next to the topic and indicate in the Notes
column any specifics (for example, in 1 indicate
which disability). For each topic checked make an
entry in the Paraeducator Personal Development
Plan.
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Paraeducator Development Plan
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Local Policy

• Your local districts policies regarding Para
  educator job descriptions, duties, and
  responsibilities provide the final work!

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Addressing the Skills and Knowledge Areas
Required to Qualify for the Paraeducator
Credential Supporting Students who have Sensory
Disabilities August, 2004

• Lynn Vuocolo Retired Teacher of Visually
  Impaired Teacher of Deaf Hard of Hearing
• visionmom1_at_aol.com
• Pennsylvania Training Technical Assistance
  Network
• www.pattan.k12.pa.us
• Vision Impairment Consultants
• Jeanne Gardier jgardier_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Ellyn Ross eross_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Susan M. Kershman skershman_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Debby Holzapfel dholzapfel_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Mark Steciw msteciw_at_pattan.k12.pa.us

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• Deaf or Hard of Hearing Consultants
• Tom Clouse tclouse_at_pattan.k12.pa.u
  s
• Sue Ann Houser shouser_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Nan Rodgers nrodgers_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
  
• Susan M. Kershman skershman_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Marlene Schechter-Connors
• mschechterconnors
  _at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Susan Lindsey slindsey_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Deafblind Consultants
• Jeanne Gardier jgardier_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Sue Ann Houser shouser_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Susan M. Kershman skershman_at_pattan.k12.pa.us
• Juli Baumgarner
• 
  jbaumgarner_at_pattan.k12.pa.us

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Learners Objectives

• Describe impact of sensory impairments on
  learning
• List educational needs of students with sensory
  impairments
• Identify roles of team members

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Todays Session

• Overview of sensory impairments
• Educational needs
• Roles of team members
• Resources and information

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Definition of Vision Impairment

• Even with correction, the student cannot function
  in the school environment without special
  instructional techniques.
• Blind students rely on tactile, auditory,
  olfactory, and gustatory systems to gain
  information.
• Low vision students primarily use vision to
  complete activities but may need special
  materials, optical devices, or equipment to gain
  information.

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Causes Functional Implications of Visual
Impairment

• Conditions resulting in low visual acuity
• Conditions resulting in restricted visual fields
• Peripheral field impairments
• Central field impairments
• Cortical vision loss

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Simulation Activity 1

• Share information with team mates but please work
  quietly.

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Definition of Hearing Loss

• Hearing Loss any type degree of hearing loss,
  no matter what the cause, degree, type or time of
  onset
• Hard of Hearing a person who learned language
  primarily auditorally who receives information
  from the environment primarily auditorally but
  whose hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating,
  adversely affects a childs educational program
• Deaf a person who learned language primarily
  visually (speechreading, cued speech, manual
  communication, communication board), who
  receives information from the environment
  primarily visually

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Causes Functional Implications of Hearing Loss

• Conductive hearing loss
• Sensorineural hearing loss
• Before or during birth
• Later onset
• Mixed hearing loss
• Central loss

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Degrees of Hearing Loss(Which describes your
student?)

• Normal range0 to 25 dB
• Mildloss of 26 to 40 dB
• Moderateloss of 41 to 55 dB
• Moderate-Severeloss of 56 to 70 dB
• Severeloss of 71 to 90 dB
• Profoundloss above 91 dB

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Simulations of Hearing Loss
Common Infection
The following WAV clips will simulate what a
student may hear given this audible
message When Mrs. Frederick C. Littles second
son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not
much bigger than a mouse. (Nelson, 1997)
Ambient Noise
Reverberation
Mild Sensorineural Loss
All Factors Combined

• Nelson, P.B. (1997). Impact of hearing loss on
  children in typical classroom environments.
  Acoustical Society of America 133rd Meeting Lay
  Language Papers On-line. Available
  www.acoustics.org/133rd/2paaa2.1.html

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Simulation Activity 2
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Definition of Deafblind

• Concomitant hearing and visual impairments,
  the combination of which creates such severe
  communication and other developmental and
  educational needs that they cannot be accomodated
  in special education programs solely for children
  with deafness or children with blindness
• (Federal Register, 1999)

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Causes Functional Implications of Deafblindness

• Genetic conditions
• Syndromes
• Trauma

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Simulation Activity 3
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Educational Needs

• Educational process
• Evaluation
• Educational planning
• Standards and curriculum
• Progress monitoring
• Reevaluation
• Access to the general education or core
  curriculum
• Adapted core curriculum skills

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Access to General Education Curriculum

• Knowledge and skills to be learned before exiting
  high school
• Academic skills
• Social skills
• Transition/Career skills
• Accommodations or adaptations
• Format of textbooks
• Classroom presentations/materials
• Communicationacademic social
• Movement within academic environment community

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Expanded Core Curriculum for Visually Impaired

• Compensatory skills
• Braille reading and writing skills
• Listening skills
• Notetaking skills
• Social interaction skills
• Body language
• Communication skills
• Cooperative skills

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• Independent living skills
• Organizational skills
• Self-advocacy
• Personal hygiene appearance
• Eating drinking
• Food preparation
• Dressing clothing care
• Health safety
• Recreation and leisure
• Physical education
• Art education
• Recess free time
• Career education

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• Use of assistive technology
• Talking books
• Optical aids (CCTV)
• Personal computers
• Refreshable braille devices
• Visual efficiency skills
• Orientation and mobility skills
• Protective arm techniques
• Trailing
• Sighted guide
• Use of mobility devices

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Expanded Core Curriculum Deaf or Hard of Hearing

• Communication skills
• Primary language
• Reading/Writing
• Auditory skills
• Listening skills
• Speech production
• Speechreading

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• Social skills
• Self-advocacy
• Peer interaction
• Technology
• Amplification aids
• Captioning technologies
• TTY/Pagers
• Computer-internet access
• Cochlear implants

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• Deaf Culture
• Self-concept
• Transition

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Expanded Core Curriculum Deafblind

• Compensatory skills/Communication skills
• Social skills
• Independent living skills
• Recreation and leisure
• Career education
• Technology skills
• Visual efficiency skills
• Auditory skills
• Orientation Mobility skills
• Deaf Culture

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Compensatory Skills/ Communication Skills

• Understand the impact of combined effects of
  hearing vision loss
• Adapt to learners pace/timing of communication
• Use of touch
• Development of concrete and abstract concepts

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Social skills

• Establish a trusting relationship
• Develop communication partnerships with peers
  in the classroom
• Give the student opportunities to recognize
  himself/herself and others by name
• Tell the student about interactions and events
  taking place around him/her

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Independent living skills

• Involve the student in the entire process of an
  activity
• Provide opportunities for the student to learn
  from naturally occurring successes AND failures
• Use touch to make the student aware of his/her
  body and anothers throughout functional
  activities

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Recreation Leisure/ Career Education

• Create opportunities for cooperation and
  turn-taking
• Provide opportunities for the student to feel
  control and to develop confidence
• Encourage the student to pursue interests
• Provide opportunities for the student to actively
  explore and experience common objects

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Technology skills

• Encourage the student to use many forms of
  communication
• Provide opportunities for the student to use
  technological tools for communication
• Provide opportunities for the learner to use
  augmentative communication in a variety of
  environments with a variety of communication
  partners

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Visual efficiency skills/ Auditory skills

• Arrange environment to enhance residual vision
  /or hearing
• Promote the use of appropriate optical aids /or
  amplification aids
• Help the learner gain information about the
  environment by drawing attention to visual,
  auditory, tactile, or olfactory information

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Orientation Mobility skills

• Help the student understand space from those that
  are small to those that are larger and more
  complex
• Encourage the student to move safely and
  independently by using strategies developed by
  the OM instructor /or the Physical Therapist

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Deaf Culture

• Respect the students choice of communication
  style and participation in Deaf Culture
• Respect the familys right to confidentiality

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Videotape Hand in Hand