Chapter 6: Types, Characteristics, and Identification of the Learners with Difficulty Seeing, Hearing, and

Communicating
Learners with Difficulty Seeing
Visual Acuity – refers to the ability to distinguish forms or discriminate among details.
Legal Blindness – refers to having a visual acuity of 20/20 or less in the better eye with the use of the corrective
lens.
Partially Sighted – those whose visual acuity in the better eye after correlation falls between 20/70 and 20/200.
Tunnel Vision – the condition of having a perception of viewing the world through a narrow tube.
Visual Impairment – having impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a learner’s educational
performance.
Total Blindness – refers to receiving no useful information through the sense of vision.
Functional Blindness – means having no little vision that one learns primarily through the tactile and auditory senses.
Characteristics of Learners with Difficulty Seeing
Cognition and Language
Motor Development and Mobility
Social Adjustment and Interaction
Types and causes of Visual Impairment
Amblyopia – reduction or in loss of vision in the weaker eye from lack of use; caused by strabismus, unequal
refractive errors, or opacity of the lens or cornea.
Astigmatism – distorted or blurred vision caused by irregularities in the cornea or other surfaces of the eye that
produce images on the retina not in the equal focus (refractive error).
Cortical Visual Impairment – impaired vision caused by damage or malfunction of the visual cortex or optic
nerve (or both).
Hyperopia (farsightedness) – difficulty seeing near objects clearly but able to focus on distant objects.
Muscular Degeneration – central area of the retina gradually deteriorates
Myopia (nearsightedness) – distant objects are blurred or not seen at all but near objects are seen clearly.
Nystagmus – rapid, involuntary, back-and-forth movement of the eyes, which makes it difficult to focus on the
objects.
Strabismus – inability to focus on the same object with both eyes because of an inward or outward deviation of
one or both eyes.
Identifying Learners with Difficulty Seeing
The Snellen Chart – used to test visual acuity. It was developed by a Dutch ophthalmologist in 1962, and still
widely used tool in measuring visual acuity today. It consists letters, with each row corresponding to the
distance that a normally sighted person could discriminate letters (Heward, 2017).
The Vision Services Severity Rating Scale (VSSRS) – it was developed by the Michigan Department of
Education (2013) in order to assist the Teacher Consultant for the Visually Impaired (TCVI) OR THE Teacher
of the Visually Impaired (TVI) in making recommendations for services to students who are blind or visually
impaired.
Learners with Difficulty Hearing
Deafness – is defined as severe hearing loss in that the learner is impaired in processing linguistic information
through hearing, with or without amplifications, and which negatively affects a learner’s educational
performance.
Hearing Loss – pertains to loss of hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that negatively affects a learner’s
education performance, other than those that qualify as deafness.
Residual Hearing – refers to some sounds perceived by most of deaf people.
Hard of Hearing – are individuals who can use their hearing to understand speech, generally with the help of
hearing aid.
Deaf Culture – prefer terms such as Teacher of the deaf School, Deaf for the Deaf, and Deaf Person.
Characteristics of Learners with Difficulty Hearing
Literacy – disadvantage of acquiring language skills
Speaking – hard of hearing to have atypical speech.
Academic Achievement – performs poorly than their peers with normal hearing.
 Social Functioning – feelings of isolation, having no friends, and unhappiness in school.
Types and Causes of Hearing Loss
Conductive Hearing Impairment – involves problem with the conduction of transmission of sound vibrations to
the inner ear.
Sensory Hearing Impairment – refers to the damage to the cochlea.
Neutral Hearing Impairment – refers to abnormality of the auditory nerve pathway.
Mixed Hearing Impairment – refers to any combination of conductive, sensory, and neutral hearing loss.
Unilateral Hearing Loss – hearing loss in one ear.
Bilateral Hearing Loss – hearing loss in both ears.
Congenital Hearing Loss – hearing loss present at birth.
Acquired Hearing Loss – hearing loss that develop after birth
Prelingual Hearing Loss – hearing loss before the development of spoken language
Postlingual Hearing Loss – hearing loss happened after the development of spoken language.
Possible Causes of Hearing Loss
Congenital
Genetic Factors – when one parent passes on a dominant gene for hearing loss to a child.
Maternal Rubella – when pregnant woman contracted rubella, which could cause deafness in the developing
child.
Congenital Cytomegalovirus – when a woman contracts cytomegalovirus, which risks deafness in the
developing child.
Acquired
Otitis Media – a temporary, recurrent infection of the middle ear.
Meningitis – a bacterial or viral infections of the central nervous system and is the leading cause of postlingual
hearing loss.
Meniere’s Disease – sudden and unpredictable attacks vertigo, fluctuations in hearing, and tinnitus (perception
of sound when no outside sound is present).
Noise Exposure – repeated exposure to loud sounds.

Chapter 7: Principles and Strategies of Teaching and Designing IEP for Learners with Difficulty Seeing, Hearing,
and Communicating
DepEd Order 72, series of 2009 also known as the Inclusive Education as Strategy for Increasing Participation
Rate of Children – Special Education School
Make a background check
Establish rapport
Adhere to the People First Policy
Treat them as you treat other regular students
Educational Approaches
Learners with Blindness
Braille – a tactile reading or writing system and is the primary, means of literacy for learners who are blind
Braille Technological Aids – materials that develop by Braille system made readily available to those
learners with blindness.
Tactile Aids and Manipulatives – materials used to describe objects and the world around us.
 Experience Book – based on the learner’s experience such as attending birthday parties and field trips.
 Object Book – book containing real objects taken form the learner’s activities
 Routine Book – is an organizer of learner’s classroom activities where step-by-step procedure is done
 Theme Book – book that focuses on an area and is used to supplement instruction on a particular topic.
Expanded Core Curriculum – this curriculum includes orientation and mobility, listening skills, social
interaction skills, independent living skills, recreation and leisure skills, and career education.
 Orientation – knowing the environment
 Mobility – ability to move safely and effectively from one place to the next
Listening Skills – must be developed since learners with blindness obtain information by listening.
Learners with Low Vision
 Optical Aids – most famous aids used by the learners with low vision
Large Print Materials – visual aids should be readable by all learners in the classroom
Classroom Adaptation – classroom lighting is important for learners with low vision.
Learners with Hearing Impairment
Hearing Aids – improve hearing of those people with difficulty hearing
Assistive Listening System (ALS) – amplifiers directed through a radio link form the teachers to the learners.
Cochlear Implants – electronic medical device surgically implanted to provide a sense of sound to learners
with severe to profound hearing loss.
Sign Language – purely visually motivated grammatical devices found in nonmanual sign of the face and body
Oral/ Aural Approaches – trains learners to produce and understand speech and language with auditory, visual,
and tactile methods of input.
Auditory training – commonly given to young learners with residual hearing to get them acquainted with
sounds.
Speechreading - this process is done through retrieving spoken message by paying attention to the speaker’s lip
movement, facial expressions, eye movements, and body gestures.
Learners with Communication Disorder
Discrimination Activities – developed to help learners produce and discriminate between similar sounds.
Vocabulary Building – teacher use a variety of techniques in building learner’s vocabulary.

Causes of Communication Disorders (Heward, 2017)

Aphasia - Loss of ability to process and use speech. This could be due to a cardiovascular event among adults,
head injury among children
Genetics - Phonological disorders and stuttering could be liked to genetic causes.
Environmental Factors - When children are punished for talking, gesturing, or trying to communicate, or for the
lack of stimulation and motivation to participate in communication or interact with others at home.
Identifying Learners with Difficulty Communicating
Case History and Physical Examination - the child's case history is documented.
Articulation - specialist assesses speech errors and records sounds that are produced incorrectly, types of
mispronunciation, and several errors.
Hearing - the child's hearing is evaluated to identify whether it is a child's hearing problem that is causing the
communication disorder.
Phonological Awareness and Processing - problems with receptive and expressive spoken language, as well as
difficulties in learning to read.
Overall Language Development and Vocabulary - a test that measures a child's vocabulary as an indicator of
language competence can be administered.
Assessment of Language Function - includes identification of a learner's strengths and weaknesses in various
language functions, then comparing them to language and communication skills of typically developing children.
Language Samples - samples of the child's expressive speech and language are taken and examined.
Observation in Natural Settings - Children's use of language is observed as they engage in everyday activities.
Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder
AUTISM
Is a developmental disability that affects one's verbal and nonverbal communication and interaction.
Is Usually evident before a child turns 3
Refers to persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across various contexts.
This is manifested through problems with social-emotional reciprocity, lack of use and understanding of
nonverbal communicative behaviors, and difficulties in developing and maintaining relationships.
Characteristics of Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Social Communication Impairments
Speech/ Language Impairments
Restricted Repetitive and Stereotyped Patterns of Behavior, Interest, and Activities
Sensory Differences
 Visual Input Sensitivities - bothered by fluorescent lights
 Auditory Input Sensitivities - covering ears during loud noises
 Tactile Input Sensitivities - disliking getting hands or feet messy
 Taste/Smell Sensitivities - not eating certain foods
  Proprioceptive Input Sensitivities - difficulties interpreting sensations
 Vestibular Input Sensitivities - over or under-sensitive to balance and movement sensations.
Executive Function Impairment
Common Learning Characteristics
Causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Environmental - Risk factors include parental age, low birth weight, or fetal exposure, or substances such as
valproate.
Genetic and Physiological - ASD is heritable to some extent, and having a family member with ASD increases
the risk of developing it.
Idiopathic - the cause is unknown.
Identifying Learners with ASD
Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) - a 40-item scale accomplished by a parent or primary caregivers.
Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) - a 27-item scale accomplished by parents and teachers. It
is used for screening high-functioning ASD in children.
Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI) - Revised (ADI - R) - is a semi-structured interview of the primary
caregiver of the child or adult suspected of having autism administered by a trained examiner.
Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) - is a supplement to ADI-R wherein the child is prescribed
with a set of interactions designed to evoke behaviors that indicate autism.
Learners with Communication Disorder
Discrimination Activities - activities developed to help learners produce and discriminate between similar
sounds
Vocabulary Building - teachers use a variety of techniques in building learners' vocabulary.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ACC) - includes different ways of sharing thoughts and
emotions with the receiver without talking.
Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) - is a therapy based on the science of learning and behavior with the goal of
increasing positive behaviors and decreasing harmful ones that negatively affect learning. It includes behavioral
reinforcement and modeling that yield beneficial outcomes for learners with ASD.
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) - aims to help learners to request things or activities
from others with the use of pictures.
Social Stories - a form of visual support to learners with ASD as social stories explain concepts, social situations,
and expected behaviors of people in a format that matches their level of comprehension. This technique provides
a visual representation of different levels and processes of communication that take place in the conversation.
Jigsawing - this approach provides opportunities for learners with ASD to work collaboratively with their peers
as everyone in the class completes the task.
 
Chapter 9: Types, Characteristics, and Identification of Learners with Difficulty Walking and Moving
 
Child with Disability - this implies that the child has a disability
Disabled Child - implies that this child is disabled by the circumstances, including people's attitudes and
resources, rather than one's physical disabilities.
Learners with Difficulty Walking and Moving
Physical Disability
 is a label given to a vast range of difficulties that have to do with physical functioning
 Physical Disability or Orthopedic Impairment could cause by congenital anomaly, including clubfoot;
impairments caused by disease such as bone tuberculosis; and impairments from other causes such as
cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or bones.
 Physical difficulties turn into disability if it prevents a person, thus enabling one, from participating in
society in general and in school in particular.
Other Health Impairments
 Refer to conditions of having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, which could limit one's participation
in education.
 This could be a chronic (long-lasting and most often permanent condition).
Typical and Atypical Development of Gross Motor (Physical) Skills
Gross motor (physical) skills - those which require whole body movement.
Types and Causes of Health Impairments, Physical Disabilities, and Neurological Conditions
 Epilepsy - seizure disorder occurs when abnormal Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ACC) –
different ways of sharing thoughts and emotions to the receiver without talking electrical discharges in the brain
cause a disturbance of movement, sensation, behavior, or consciousness.
 Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizure or Grand Mal Seizure - is the most common, wherein muscles
become stiff, and one loses consciousness and falls to the floor. It also involves violent shaking of the
body while muscles contract and relax alternately.
 Absence Seizure or Petit Mal - is less severe, although it occurs more frequently. One may stare
blankly, flutter, blink, grow, pale, and drop whatever is holding; as if daydreaming and not listening
 Complex Partial Seizure or Psychomotor Seizure - manifests as a brief period of inappropriate or
purposeless activity, for instance, smacking one's lips, walking about aimlessly, or shouting.
Asthma - is a chronic lung disease. Its symptoms include wheezing, coughing, and difficulty breathing.
Cerebral Palsy - a disorder of movement or posture. It is a permanent condition that results from having a lesion
in the brain or abnormality in brain growth.
 Monoplegia - Affects one limb, usually an arm
 Hemiplegia - affects one side of the body, including the arm leg, and trunk
 Diplegia - affects symmetrical of the body (legs or arms)
 Quadriplegia - affects all four limbs
 Paraplegia - only legs are impaired
 Double Hemiplegia - involves the arms, with less severe involvement of the legs
Spina Bifida - is the most common neural tube defect, which refers to congenital malformations of the brain,
spinal cord, or vertebrae
Muscular Dystrophy - is a group of inherited diseases marked by progressive atrophy or wasting away of the
body's muscles
 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - most common and severe type, which affects only boys.
Spinal Cord Injuries - caused by lesions due to penetrating injury, stretching of the vertebral column, fracture of
the vertebrae, or the compression of the spinal cord.
Classification of Physical Disabilities
Progressive conditions that get worse over time
Multiple Sclerosis - neurological deterioration
Muscular dystrophy - muscular disorder
Chronic arthritis - inflammation of the joints
Non-progressive conditions that remain stable
Cerebral Palsy – a neurological condition
Spina Bifida - congenital malformation of the spinal cord
Spinal cord injury - neurological damage resulting from trauma
Disabilities that are non-progressive but can fluctuate
Fibromyalgia - chronic pain condition
Chronic fatigue syndrome - chronic fatigue condition