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Importance of Timing of Diagnosis of a Sensory Impairment (congenital vs. acquired)

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Importance of Timing of Diagnosis of a Sensory Impairment (congenital vs. acquired)

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Considering the length that a person has been diagnosed with sensory impairment is extremely important

For example, if a person experiences hearing loss after acquiring communication skills the difference is very drastic compared to a child who was born deaf. This child that was born deaf may not have the same extent of communication skills compared to an individual with acquired hearing loss

Congenital: Hearing loss is present at birth

Early diagnosis is suggested to increase opportunities of early intervention. These early interventions will allow the individual to learn to adapt

Acquired: Appears later in life

The diagnosis for acquired sensory impairments is also important as soon as symptoms are noticed to ensure early intervention

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Noise

Aging

Disease

Heredity

-Illness and certain medications can also cause some individuals to lose hearing

-Unknown cause for 25% of babies born with detectable hearing loss

-25% of babies: the cause is believed to be due to maternal infections during pregnancy, complications after birth, & head trauma

50% is due to genetics
-specific syndromes such as Down or Usher contribute to 1/3 of these cases

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Types of Hearing Loss & Degrees of Hearing Loss 

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Types of Hearing Loss & Degrees of Hearing Loss 

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The 4 types of hearing loss:

Conductive Hearing Loss: Caused by something that stops sounds from getting through the outer or middle ear.

Can be treated with medicine or surgery

Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Occurs when there is a problem in the way the inner ear or hearing nerve functions

Mixed Hearing Loss: Includes both a conductive and sensorineural hearing loss

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder: Occurs when sound enters the ear normally, but due to damage of the inner ear or hearing nerve, sound is unable to be organized in a way that the brain understands

The 4 degrees of Hearing Loss

Mild Hearing Loss: may hear some speech sounds but soft sounds are hard to hear

Moderate Hearing Loss: may hear almost no speech when one is talking at normal levels

Severe Hearing Loss: hears little to no speech when one is talking at a normal level and only some loud noises

Profound Hearing Loss: unable to hear any speech and only very loud noises

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Visual Acuity is sharpness or clarity  of vision

Normal eyesight is recognized as visual acuity of 20/20. This means someone with normal vision can see small details at 20 feet away

Visual impairment is defined as visual acuity of 20/40 or less with correction. This means the test subject sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 40 feet away

Low vision: significant visual impairment with visual acuity between 20/70 and 20/200 that is not correctable

20/70 vision: person who is 20 feet from an eye chart sees what a person with normal vision can see from 70 feet away

20/200 visual acuity or less (with best correction or a visual field extent of 20 degrees or less in diameter): legal blindness- used to determine rehabilitation and other services

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Variety of ocular and cortical causes:

Ocular causes

Disease

Conditions affecting the eye

Cortical Causes

Injury

Structural differences in the brain

Other Causes

Refractive errors

myopia- nearsightedness

hyperopia- farsightedness

astigmatism- distorted vision at all distances

presbyopia- loss of close vision

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

retinal eye disease associated with aging

results in damaged sharp and central vision

leading cause of permanent impairment in reading and close-up vision

Diplopia

double vision

monocular

binocular

Visual field impairments

visual neglect

field loss

Quality of vision impairments

night blindness

hyposensitivity to light

photophobia or hypersensitivity to daylight

color blindness

floaters

stray lights

seeing stars or flashes

Cataract

clouding of eye lens

leading cause of blindness worldwide and vision loss in the US- can happen at any age

Glaucoma

normal or high fluid pressure in the eye resulting in damage to the optic nerve

open angle glaucoma

closed angle glaucoma

Amblyopia

"lazy eye"- brain and eye do not work together

Strabismus

imbalance in the positioning of the two eyes causing a lack of coordination between eyes

cross in or turn out

Diabetic retinopathy (DR)

leading cause of blindness in the US and a complication of diabetes mellitus

damage to blood vessels of the retina

4 stages:

mild nonproliferative retinopathy

moderate nonproliferative retinopathy

severe nonproliferative retinopathy

proliferative retinopathy

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TR Interventions for Hearing Loss and Visual Impairments 

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TR Interventions for Hearing Loss and Visual Impairments 

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Hearing Loss

Small group or individual interventions to minimize the difficulties that come with large groups

Functional Skills:

Communication Skills

Social Skills & Relationships

Use of Assistive Technology

Health Promotion

Community Integration

Education, Training and Counseling

Domestic Life Skills: making progress to become independent in community living upon discharge

Money Management: Gaining the ability to manage money and resources

Job Skills: Prevocational training can begin at an early age and increase confidence

Communication development

Communication, social and interpersonal skills

Advanced self-care: personal care and hygiene

Laundry

Arranging appointments

Selecting clothing

Leadership: Improve assertiveness skills

Leisure skills: recreation interests, abilities, and skills related to a healthy leisure lifestyle

Meal preparation and cooking: Nutrition, and safe food handling skills

Communication awareness and reintegration: Learning how to be involved in a community setting, awareness, independence

Visual Impairments

Functional skills

Orientation and mobility: effective orientation and mobility skills to safely, purposefully, and independently travel through diverse environments

Self-care: Pouring liquids, food preparation, locating items

Communication: shaking hands, making eye contact, interpreting gestures

Reading: alternative formats

Leisure skills: leisure skill development and participation, community resource development, healthy leisure development

Facilitators and barriers: identification of environmental facilitators or barriers such as products or technology

Education, Training, and Counseling

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Leisure counseling

Lifestyle: alteration education with attention to physical inactivity patterns and obesity

Adaptive technology: teach effectiveness of assistive technology to facilitate participation and independence in various aspects of life

Compensatory strategies: training for visual impairments, turning head for compensation of vision loss, labeling for colors, etc.

Assertiveness training: facilitates asking for assistance, seeking directions, and responding effectively to diverse people and situations

Community Integration

Community functioning: how to move around, ask for directions, access goods/services, and assistive technology

Transportation: accessing and using private/public transportation and how to use it

Safety: how to deal with emergencies and safety issues

Equipment: training and information for equipment to facilitate independence

Health promotion