How would you as a teacher identify students with mild hearing impairment in the class? a) The learner keeps hand near his / her ear when you speak to him / her b) The learner leans towards you in an attempt to hear better c) The learner squeezes his / her eyes and looks at you d) The learner does not respond to your calling unless someone tells him / her Choose correct answer from the following options below.
How would you as a teacher identify students with mild hearing impairment in the class? a) The learner keeps hand near his / her ear when you speak to him / her b) The learner leans towards you in an attempt to hear better c) The learner squeezes his / her eyes and looks at you d) The learner does not respond to your calling unless someone tells him / her Choose correct answer from the following options below. Correct Answer (a), (b), (c)
Impairment
Impairment refers to a diseased or a defective tissue or a part of it. For example, if the cornea (white part) of the eye' becomes dry and wrinkled, then it has become defective and is impaired. If during childbirth the child did not get enough oxygen, some brain tissue may 'have been damaged. This is an impairment. If the tissue of the foot becomes diseased causing'rot to set in, it has become impaired. A birthmark is also a defective tissue.
Types of Impairment
Visual Impairment
- The term 'visual impairment' is used to refer to not only those who are blind but also those who have low vision.
- When the person has residual vision above a certain level, he is said to have low vision or poor vision. However, if the residual vision is below that level, he is considered to be blind.
- According to the legal definition of blindness, if a person's visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye, even after the best possible correction with eyeglasses or contact lenses, then he is considered to be blind.
Mild Visual Impairment
- The learner squeezes his / her eyes and looks at you: The person rubs the eyes excessively.
- Severe Visual Impairment: The person has difficulty in reading or in any other activity. requires close use of the eyes. The person's eyes have excessive tears, are red, or the eye-lids are encrusted with the matter.
- Profound Visual Impairment: Totally blind, need an operation
Hearing Impairment
- The term 'hearing handicap' refers to the effect of hearing impairment on the person's day-to-day life.
- In the absence of appropriate and early intervention, hearing impairment often turns into a handicap, negatively affecting a person's development and functioning in day-to-day life.
- The main aim of intervention and rehabilitation is to reduce the hearing handicap resulting from the hearing impairment.
| Mild loss (20-40 dB) | The learner leans towards you in an attempt to hear better. The learner keeps hand near his / her ear when you speak to him/her |
| Moderate loss (40-60 dB) | The person may have a problem in hearing group conversations or when there is background noise or have difficulty in hearing conversational speech beyond 3-5 feet. |
| Severe loss (60-80 dB) | The person misses all but very loud speech; will not be able to hear loud sounds beyond a distance of feet. The learner does not respond to your calling unless someone tells him/her |
| Profound loss (80 dB or more) | The person is unable to hear speech except for a loud shout, cannot hear spoken language, All not be able to rely on hearing as a primary channel of communication. |
Hence, we conclude that teachers identify students with mild learning impairment in the class,
- if the learner keeps hand near his / her ear when you speak to him/her,
- leans towards you in an attempt to hear better,
- The learner squeezes his / her eyes and looks at you