Deafblind

1. Deafblind “Once I knew only darkness and stillness….my life was without past or future….but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” — Helen Keller

2. Background History • A person who is Deafblind may or may not be completely deaf or completely blind, but does not have enough of either sense to navigate their environment independently. • There are many different circumstances for people who are Deafblind. • -Congenital Deafblindness • -Acquired Deafblindness • Many children who are Deafblind also have physical, medical or cognitive problems • During the Rubella outbreak was when many of the current congenital Deafblind cases occurred.

3. Acquired Deafblindness Congenital Deafblindness • When someone is born with both either full or partial hearing and sight impairment. • Sight and hearing is lost prenatally or shortly after birth • These people have no memory of what it is like to have the sense of sight or hearing • When someone developed loss of sight and hearing later in life • This can be due to accident, age or illness • People with this condition can also be born with a genetic predisposition which causes this condition to develop over time. • -Ie. Usher syndrome

4. Communication • Use of specialists, enables people with Deafblindness to communicate and understand everyday concepts. • A lot of Deafblind of communication is done through non verbal means and can also be unintentional • Methods of Deafblind communication include: • Speech • Gesture • Sign Language • Body Movement • Changes in facial expression • Tactile Cues • Example of Deafblind communication

5. Incidence • Deafblindness is considered a relatively low incidence disability • In Canada, it is estimated that every 1 in 3000 people will be affected by this disability. • Level one funding • ($36 600)

6. Physiological Characteristics • Partially or fully blind • Partially or fully deaf • Generalized Central Nervous System dysfunction • Inconsistent responses to visual and auditory stimuli • Other physiological characteristics may result from other cognitive, medical or physical disabilities that are often connected to Deafblindness.

7. Behavior Challenges • Exhibits low frustration tolerance • Difficulty in demonstrating age-appropriate behavior • Exhibits problems in adjusting to change • Exhibits self-stimulatory behaviors such as body rocking, an attraction to light and hyperactivity • Exhibits inappropriate behaviors in touching and smelling objects and/or people

8. Learning Challenges • Inability to perform basic academic tasks • Difficulty in performing functional life skills • Difficulty with spoken language (nonverbal in some instances) • Limited vocabulary • Difficulty with environmental mobility • Difficulty with vision • Difficulty with hearing

9. Diagnosis/ Designation • All babies, when born, are subject to a hearing screening test. • There are early signs and symptoms of babies who may be Deafblind. Ex. • Sleeps a lot, cries a little, little eye contact, doesn’t make sounds, doesn’t react to loud noises, voices or sounds, rocks backwards or forwards, doesn’t like being touched. • If child exhibits these behaviors, one can take their child to their general practitioner who will refer to the audiologist and the ophthalmologist. • These specialists can guide you to Early Intervention Services who educate parents on how to interact with their child to support development. • In later years a team of professionals may be involved including: Speech Pathologist, orientation and mobility instructors and special education teachers.

10. Ministry Designation • In order for a student to be eligible for a ministry designation the student must meet the following criteria: • Medical documentation to suggest that the student’s vision is impaired and the students hearing is impaired. • These impairments result in significant communicational, educational, vocational and social skills difficulties. • There is a current IEP in place • This IEP must follow the ministry criteria as outlined on this document Deafblind Code B

11. Adaptations • Only 15% of Deafblind students attend regular classrooms and resource rooms • Create an open concept classroom • Focus curriculum on bonding and developing interactions and routines for expanding the frequency and functions of communication. • Have clear and consistent classroom routines and calendar systems. • Before individual work, coactively move student through activity • Make learning functional • Sign language and spoken language • Where a microphone • Brail and enlarged print • Pictures, objects, gestures, facial expressions • Use tactile materials when possible • Create different goals • Print on palm

12. Example Strategy Strategy Six: Classification Capers Students are given a set of objects, pictures or word cards and are asked to sort them into categories of their choice. For a Deafblind student, this would require 3D objects or brail. An EA proficient in sign language could also sign the word into the students palm. The student could then sign back to the EA and the EA could place the objects in the categories the student decides.

13. References https://arksped.k12.ar.us/documents/policy/rulesandregulations/B1.pdf http://www.cdbanational.com/en/awareness.html http://www.deafblindservices.com/index.html http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/deafblindness.html