1http://servicesguide.reading.gov.uk/kb5/reading/directory/advice.page?

id=yjdblhTe_x0

Reading Services Guide

What is Sensory Impairment

What is sensory impairment?
Sensory impairment is when one of your senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and spatial
awareness, is no longer normal.
Examples - If you wear glasses you have a sight impairment , if you find it hard to hear or have a
hearing aid then you have a hearing impairment.
A person does not have to have full loss of a sense to be sensory impaired.
What is dual sensory impairment?
It is the combination of both hearing and sight impairment. It is not necessarily a total loss of both
senses – indeed the majority of dual sensory impaired people do have some degree of sight and/or
hearing. Those with a less severe degree of both sight and hearing impairment may also be referred
to as having a dual sensory impairment or loss. The words dual sensory impaired and deafblind are
generally accepted as inter-changeable words.
When a person has difficulties seeing and hearing then the person can be termed deafblind.
Although it is more common to refer to someone as being deafblind if there combined sight and
hearing loss which causes difficulties for them with communication, mobility and access to
information.
The combination of the two sensory impairments intensify the impact of each other, which usually
means that a deafblind person will have difficulty, or find it impossible, to utilise and benefit fully
from services for deaf people or services for blind people. Meeting the needs of deafblind people
therefore requires a separate approach.
Deafblindness is a unique and extremely complex disability that often requires specialist
communication methods and and systems being introduced to the person and those around them to
enable communication to take place.
Deafblindness has adverse effects on all areas of development, in particular the language
acquisition process, conceptual development, motor development, behaviour and personality of a
person.
People who are deafblind can generally be separated into two groups:
• Congenital Deafblindness - People who were born with a hearing and vision impairment.
This category may also include individuals who are born hearing – sighted, but who become
deafblind through accident or illness within the first months of their lives. The important factor being
that they become deafblind before they had the opportunity to gain formal language skills.
•Acquired Deafblindness - People who develop deafblindness later in life.
Three combinations are possible:
a) Individuals who are born blind and later develop a hearing impairment.
b) Individuals who are born deaf and later develop visual impairment.
c) Individuals who are born sighted and hearing, but later develop a vision and hearing impairment.
Every deafblind person is an individual and may not fit neatly into any of the above categories, or
use the suggested means of communication. Their situation may be complicated by the existence of
other factors such as physical and/or learning disabilities etc.
Of the UK's estimated 23,000 deafblind people have some remaining sight or hearing.
With a single sensory loss, the person normally relies on the other sense to ompensate. However,
with both senses lost a unique disability is considered. Which requires specialist communication
skills and support.
2https://www.hwns.com.au/about-us/about-disability/types-of-disabilities/types-of-sensory-
disabilities/

House with no steps

Types of sensory disabilities

Different types of sensory disabilities affect one or more senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste or
spatial awareness.

What is a sensory disability?

A sensory disability is a disability of the senses (e.g. sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste).

As 95% of the information about the world around us comes from our sight and hearing, a sensory
disability can affect how a person gathers information from the world around them.

Types of sensory disabilities

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Autism spectrum disorders are a lifelong developmental disability. They affect the way someone
interacts with the world around them, as well as with other people. Around 1 in 200 Aussies have autism
(ABS, 2012), and boys are four times more likely to have autism than girls.

The effects of autism are wide ranging and can include difficulties in social interaction and
communication, restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours, and sensitivity to sensory
experiences – noise, light, touch etc. As autism can be very variable, the word ‘spectrum’ describes the
range of difficulties that someone with autism may experience.

Autism is a complex disability and cause is not well understood. As far as we know there’s no single
cause. Instead, it’s likely to be due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors (Mayo Clinic).
What research has told us is, there do seem to be a few factors that can increase the risk of autism, such
as:

Your child’s sex: autism is four times more common in boys than girls.

Family history: families who have a child with autism have an increased risk of having another child with
the disorder.

Other disorders: children with certain medical conditions have a higher risk of autism, or autism-like
symptoms (fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Tourette syndrome and Rett syndrome to name a
few).

Extremely pre-term babies: babies born under 26 weeks may have a higher risk of autism.

Find out more:

Myths about autism

Four things that don’t cause autism

Questions you always wanted to ask a person with autism

Blindness and low vision

A person is considered legally blind if they cannot see at six metres what someone with normal vision
can see at 60 metres or if their field of vision is less than 20 degrees in diameter (Vision Australia).

A person is said to have low vision when they have permanent vision loss which affects their day to day
and cannot be corrected with glasses (Vision Australia).

Blindness and low vision can occur as a result of a number of different diseases, conditions, or accidents.
Some eye conditions are congenital (present at or near birth), while others are caused later in life. Some
specific causes of vision loss can include an injury to the eye, eye defects, albinism, macular
degeneration, diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts, and tumors.

Whilst some forms of vision loss can be prevented and even reversed, others may develop as people age
– it is more common in those over the age of 65.

Hearing loss and deafness

Hearing loss, also known as a hearing impairment, is the partial or total inability to hear. If someone has
very little or no hearing, the term ‘deaf’ may be used.

Damage to any part of the external, middle, or inner ear can cause hearing loss which can range from
being mild to profound.

Causes of hearing loss can be quite varied and can include problems with the bones within the ear,
damage to the cochlear nerve, exposure to noise, genetic disorders, exposure to diseases in utero, age,
trauma, and other diseases.

Sensory processing disorder

Sensory processing disorder is a condition where a person has trouble receiving and responding to
information that comes in through the senses. This may mean they misinterpret everyday sensory
information, such as touch, sound, and movement.

When someone has sensory processing disorder, they are able to sense the information, however, the
brain perceives and analyses the information in an unusual way. It may affect one sense only or it may
affect multiple senses.

Some people with sensory processing disorder are oversensitive to things in their environment.
Common sounds may be painful or overwhelming, and the feel of certain textures on the skin may be
very uncomfortable.

It is debated whether sensory processing disorder can be a disorder on its own, however it is accepted
as a common characteristic of other disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorders, dyslexia, MS, and
Tourette syndrome.

3https://www.ecl.org/about/latest-news/blog/what-is-sensory-impairment

ECL The Care and Wellbeing Company

What is Sensory Impairment?

Published on 25th August 2017

Sensory impairment is the common term used to describe Deafness, blindness, visual
impairment, hearing impairment and Deafblindness. It does not include however the sense of
smell or touch which are often included when 'sensory rooms' are created to help stimulate
people with learning difficulties or people with MSI (Multi-Sensory Impairments).
Deaf (capital D)

When the term Deaf is used (note the capital D), this indicates that the person/people referred to are
profoundly deaf and usually use BSL (British Sign Language) to communicate. They do not consider
Deafness to be a disability but more of a difference in human experience and often greatly involved with
Deaf culture such as Deaf pubs, Deaf clubs, Deaf Deaflympics and even Deaf raves!

There are many causes of Deafness and the effects can be devastating for people who become post-
lingually Deaf (After learning speech). Pre-lingually Deaf people may attend a school for the Deaf to
learn signing and speech therapy.

deaf (lower case d)

The term deaf (lover case d) refers to people with severe to profound hearing loss although terminology
tends to be an individual preference. People who consider themselves deaf usually rely on hearing aids
to enhance the hearing they have but will not replace hearing to its original level.

Hearing impaired or hard of hearing

Terminology such as hearing impaired or hard of hearing is used when a person has mild to moderate
hearing loss but is again down to personal preference. NHS hearing aids are not usually given to people
with mild to moderate hearing loss unless they have a sight impairment as well. In these cases the
individual should be given two sets of hearing aids as there is a greater propensity for loss or damage
and the second set can be worn whilst the original ones are repaired or replaced.

The term deafened is used when a person who was previously hearing loses their hearing due to an
illness, accident or age related hearing loss. The latter is the largest cause of hearing loss in the UK.

Causes of hearing loss

Causes of hearing loss can be many and varied such as difficulties during birth, injury or infection,
childhood diseases like Measles, Mumps and Rubella as well as genetic causes and loud noises.

Prevention

Prevention can be assisted with regular hearing checks, wearing ear defenders or ear plugs when
working with loud machinery or music and going to the GP if you have any concerns about your hearing.
Some hearing loss can be due to a build-up of wax or blockage in the ear canal which can be managed
with surgery or medical management.

Sight loss

Levels of sight loss which used to be 'blind and partially sighted' are now referred to as sight impaired
and severely sight impaired. This is the terminology used when someone receives a CVI (Certificate of
Visual Impairment) this does not however mean that the individual has been registered with sight loss as
this is a voluntary process done through your Local Authority.

The levels of sight loss will be measured by checking the visual acuity – your central vision, the vision
you use to see detail and your visual field – how much you can see around the edge of your vision whilst
looking straight ahead. There are guidelines about the level of sight loss to define whether you are
certified sight impaired or severely sight impaired.

Causes of sight loss

There are many causes of sight loss such as injury or infection, genetic or age-related such as AMD (Age
Related Macular Degeneration) Cataracts and Diabetic Retinopathy. It is also possible to have more than
one eye condition such as Retinitis Pigmentosa and Glaucoma and detached Retinas. The causes of sight
loss are many but the effects like hearing loss can cause emotional and psychological difficulties.
Dual sensory loss or deafblindness

When a person has difficulty seeing or hearing they can be referred to as having a dual
sensory loss or deafblind. Usually a person will have difficulty with communication,
mobilising and accessing information. The largest number of people in the UK with dual
sensory loss is the older generation. There are genetic causes such as Usher
Syndrome and also impairment caused by injury or infection. If someone has sight and
hearing loss it becomes one impairment 'Deafblindness' as one sense cannot
compensate the other. Dual sensory loss can be mis-diagnosed as dementia.

Deafblind people are entitled to a specialist social care assessment under the Care Act
which may lead to services and equipment which will support independence.

And so to conclude...

... People with a sensory impairment are more likely to have depression, isolation and
loss of confidence and independence. ECL Sensory Service can provide rehabilitation,
mobility training, equipment and links to local and national voluntary organisations and
specialist information, advice and emotional support.

By Terri Sawkins, Sensory Training Facilitator at the ECL Sensory Service.

4https://www.deafblindinformation.org.au/about-deafblindness/sensory-impairment/

About Deafblindness

Sensory Impairment
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines impairment as:

“Any temporary or permanent loss or abnormality of body structure or function,

whether physiological or psychological. An impairment is a disturbance affecting
functions that are essentially mental (memory, consciousness) or sensory,
internal organs (heart, kidney), the head, the trunk or the limbs” www.who.int
The term sensory impairment is therefore often used when referring to damage that
occurs to the structure of the eyes or ears affecting the normal functioning of our vision
and hearing senses.

Hearing and Vision Loss

Dual sensory impairment (or dual sensory loss) refers to a combined vision and hearing
impairment (or loss).
When we talk about deafblindness or dual sensory loss, the proprioceptive and
vestibular systems can also be impaired and may be included as “sensory impairment”
in reports written by professionals.

Sensory impairment may be also be used more generally to describe an impairment to

the other three of our five main senses such as touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), taste
(gustatory).

Causes
There are many factors that can be attributable to causing deafblindness. Varying
degrees of vision and hearing loss may occur:

During pregnancy:
 a woman may come into contact with a virus or disease that affects the growing foetus

 an inherited condition or syndrome may be passed on to the child

 a chromosomal disorder may occur during the foetus’ early development

 injury affecting the foetus whilst in utero

Complications at birth (multiple health and physical conditions may

also be present):
 a child may be born prematurely

 neurological conditions as a result of a traumatic birth or lack of oxygen

Post natal/childhood:
 inherited conditions that may present during developmental stages

 auto immune conditions

 illness cause by virus or disease

 injury to the eyes and ears

 acquired brain injury

Young adult to older age:

 inherited conditions or syndromes that present later in the person’s life

 non-hereditary conditions and syndromes

  auto immune conditions

 illness cause by virus or disease

 injury to the eyes and ears

 acquired brain injury

 the ageing process

5https://achieveaustralia.org.au/disability-services/what-is-sensory-impairment/

Achive Australia

What is sensory Impairment?

Types of Sensory Impairments

Blindness
People who are blind or have low vision can use technology aids, equipment and strategies to
lead fairly independent and safe lives at home and in the community. Blindness and low vision
can occur as a result of disease or infection, conditions or accidents. Today, more than 500,000
people in Australia are living with vision impairment, low vision and blindness. That figure is
expected to double in Australia by the year 2030 as our population ages. Symptoms of vision
impairment are central vision loss, peripheral vision loss, contrast impairment, glare, reduced
depth perception and blur.

Visit Vision Australia for more information.

Hearing Loss
Hearing loss, hearing impairment or deafness is a partial or total inability to hear. It can be
caused by genetics, aging, exposure to noise, illness, chemicals and physical trauma. It is usually
described as mild, mild-moderate, moderate, moderately severe, severe, or profound. Hearing
loss exists when there is diminished sensitivity to the sounds normally heard. Deafness is defined
as a degree of impairment that a person is unable to understand speech even in the presence of
amplification. Many in the deaf community view it as a condition, rather than an illness.

Learn more about Hearing Loss.

Sensory Processing Disorder

Sometimes called ‘sensory integration’, SPD refers to the way the nervous system receives
messages from the senses. Often aligned with Austism Spectrum Disorder, SPD is a condition
that exists when sensory signals don’t get organised into appropriate responses. Acting like a
neurological ‘traffic jam’ SPD prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information
needed to interpret sensory information correctly, resulting in motor clumsiness, behavioural
problems, anxiety, depression, and learning difficulties. It can affect people in only one sense or
in multiple senses. While most of us have occasional difficulties processing sensory information,
children and adults with SPD find these difficulties to be chronic and highly disruptive to
everyday life, making it difficult to perform routines and activities at work, form close
relationships and participate in recreation.

Visit SPD Australia.

Our mission is to support people with Sensory Disabilities to lead meaningful and valued lives.
Get in touch with our specialists today for more information on how we can help.

Special Education Support Service

Sensory Impairments
Deafblind
Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing loss. It is sometimes called dual-sensory
impairment.
Some people with deafblindness may have some vision and hearing; others may have a total loss
of vision and hearing. Many people will have a combination of the two, such as total deafness
plus some loss of vision. An individual who is deafblind may need support and advice about
mobility, alternative and augmentative communication systems, technology and available
equipment.
The HSE recognises that there are more than 100 causes of congenital and acquired
deafblindness. The causes of deafblindness can be divided into two main categories:
 congenital, where somebody is born with both visual and hearing problems, and
 acquired, where somebody loses some or all of their hearing and sight at some stage
during their life.
If a parent discovers that their child has both sight and hearing loss, they should immediately
seek the support that is available. This support can come from Public Health Nurses, GP’s,
specialist services from ophthalmologists and audiologists, local visiting teachers for the
blind/visually impaired and deaf/hard of hearing, other parents/guardians who have children who
are Deafblind and from family and friends.

Hearing Impairment
I truly believe that the only disability out there today is attitude.
Kathy Buckley (award-nominated, stand up comedienne who has a hearing impairment) in an
article by D’Agostino, D. ‘Laughing out loud: Turning a deaf ear to comedy’, Exceptional
Parent, vol. 27 Issue 3, March 1997
The Report of the Special Education Review Committee (SERC) (1993) described a person with
a hearing impairment as one whose hearing is affected to an extent that renders the
understanding of speech through the ear alone, with or without a hearing aid, difficult or
impossible. Circulars issued by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) refer to hearing
impairment as a hearing disability that is so serious as to impair significantly students’ capacity
to hear and understand human speech, thus preventing them from participating fully in classroom
interaction and from benefiting adequately from school instruction. It is further stated that the
great majority of these students will have been prescribed hearing aids and/ or cochlear implants
and will be availing of the Visiting Teacher Service. The category does not include students with
mild hearing loss.
It is to be noted that The Irish Deaf Society (IDS), representing members of the Deaf community,
defines Deaf as a state of being that defines a group of people who share a perception of the
world through an emphasis on visual and kinaesthetic input. This description of Deaf is used
most commonly for people who are deaf at birth or from very early childhood. Deaf here defines
a cultural, social and linguistic group, and is often signified by the use of a capital ‘D’. The term
‘hearing impairment’ is disliked by the Deaf community, who do not consider deafness to be an
impairment, but rather the mark of a distinct culture.

According to the NCSE Policy Advice Paper ‘The Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Children in Ireland’ (NCSE, 2011), hearing problems arise from impairments in the function of
the outer/middle of the ear and result in conductive hearing loss. Dysfunction of the inner ear
(the cochlea) gives rise to sensorineural hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss may potentially be
managed by surgery. At present, the only effective management for sensorineural hearing loss is
amplification through hearing aids and/or cochlear implants (HSE, Audiological Review, 2011).
The extent of a child’s hearing loss is measured by the level at which sound is detected across
different frequencies on the audiogram. An audiogram records a standard hearing test in
graphical form. These may be averaged to give a single number, which represents mild,
moderate, severe or profound hearing loss. These levels are set out in the Table below.
Hearing Level in the better
Description of hearing loss
ear
Mild Hearing Loss ≤ 40 dB HL
Moderate Hearing Loss 41 to 70 dB HL
Severe Hearing Loss 71 to 95 dB HL
Profound Hearing Loss >95 dB HL
Mild Hearing Loss: the student can hear nearly all speech sounds but may hear incorrectly if not
looking at the speaker or if there is background noise. It should be noted that most classroom
situations will involve varying levels of background noise. It can be very difficult to identify this
condition, unless the child is tested by an audiological scientist. Newborn Hearing Screening,
introduced in Ireland since 2011, has helped to identify children with hearing loss at an earlier
age than ever before. Students may have difficulties responding to conversational speech
especially with background noise.
Moderate Hearing Loss: the student experiences difficulty hearing others speaking, even those
who are close by. The student may subconsciously augment his/her understanding with lip-
reading and visual cues. It can be difficult to identify the student’s hearing loss from his/her
speaking voice, but on close examination the student misses word endings (e.g. plurals and
suffixes) and omits definite and indefinite articles.
Severe Hearing Loss: the student requires a hearing/amplification device, such as a hearing aid
or Cochlear Implant and needs to use lip-reading and body language to augment understanding.
The student’s speaking voice is characterised by shortened sentences, the omission of small
words and/or word endings and inaccurate grammar.
Profound Hearing Loss: the student may use a hearing/amplification device, such as a hearing
aid or Cochlear Implant but relies on visual cues and/or sign language to communicate. The
student’s speaking voice may seem incomprehensible but some students can achieve good oral
skills. Radio aids/FM Systems may be used to transmit the speaker’s voice directly to the
listener.
Children with any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound, can benefit from the fitting and
consistent use of amplification devices such as hearing aids, Cochlear Implants, Auditory
Brainstem Implants etc. Consistent use of such devices can help the child to develop spoken
language, particularly when fitted at a young age (optimum age for fitting being before 3years of
age).
The majority of students with hearing loss in mainstream schools will have mild to moderate
hearing loss and use oral /aural (speaking /listening) methods as their main mode of
communication. However, an increasing number of students with severe to profound loss are
now entering mainstream education and some of these students choose to use sign language as
their preferred mode of communication. Irish Sign Language (ISL) is a fully developed
language, with its own grammar and structure, which differs to that of spoken English.
Indicators of a hearing loss may include difficulties pronouncing some words or speech sounds,
omission of word endings, failure to pay attention when spoken to, frequent observation of peers
for a lead as to what to do, giving incorrect answers to simple questions, a high frequency in
asking for repetition of words and sentences, intense face and/or lip watching, mispronunciation
of some words/sounds, straining to watch a speaker, tiredness, a tendency to speak loudly and to
have difficulty monitoring voice level, and withdrawal.
The communication approach used by students, be it oral/aural or a signed language approach or
a combination of the two, is based on the student’s own communication needs and parental
preference.

Visual Impairment
Students with visual impairment are described in Department of Education and Skills (DES)
circulars as having a visual disability that is so serious as to impair significantly their capacity to
see, thus interfering with their capacity to perceive visually presented materials such as pictures,
diagrams and the written word. Some will have been diagnosed as suffering from such
conditions as albinism, cataracts, congenital blindness, retinitis pigmentosa, etc. Most are
described as requiring the use of low-vision aids and of availing of the services of a Visiting
Teacher. The category is not intended to include students whose visual difficulties are
satisfactorily corrected by the wearing of glasses and/or contact lenses.
Students with visual impairment may display comprehension difficulties, have poor
organisational skills, fail to complete assignments and experience difficulty staying on-task.
Most students described as having visual impairment are, in fact, partially sighted and can
function in the school situation with the assistance of low-vision aids. Those who have
deteriorating minimal residual vision or who are totally blind may need to read and write through
the medium of Braille.

6http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/your-council-and-democracy/local-research-and-
statistics/wiki/sensory-impairments

Bath and North East Somerset Council

Sensory Impairments
Definitions
The term 'sensory impairment' 1 is used here to refer to people with either visual or hearing
impairments or both - the extent of those impairments will vary from person to person.
Visual impairments -2

Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI) -The document signed by the ophthalmologist to identify
someone as being 'sight impaired' or 'severely sight impaired'.
Sight impaired -The term used to identify someone who as been assessed by an ophthalmologist as
being "substantially and permanently handicapped by defective vision caused by congenital (present
at birth) defect, illness or injury."
Severely sight impaired -The term used to identify someone who as been assessed by an
ophthalmologist as being "so blind as to be unable to perform any work for which eyesight is
essential."
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -This condition commonly affects people over the age of 50
and is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 65.

There are two main types of AMD: neovascular or exudative AMD commonly known as wet AMD;
and atrophic commonly known as dry AMD.

 Wet AMD can develop quickly affecting central vision in a short period of time. Early
identification and treatment of wet AMD is vital. Treatment can halt the further development of
scarring but lost sight cannot be restored.
 Dry AMD can develop slowly and take a long time to progress There is currently no treatment
for dry AMD. People with early and moderate stages of DRY AMD are not eligible for
registration, but it does have an impact upon a person daily life, for example they may have to
stop driving.
Glaucoma -This is a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged commonly, but not
always, due to changes in eye pressure. Damage to sight can usually be minimised by early
diagnosis in conjunction with careful regular observation and treatment.Many glaucoma patients will
attend regular appointments and take eye drops for the rest of their lives to prevent deterioration of
vision. Some forms of glaucoma can be treated with laser surgery and surgery.
Cataracts -This is a common eye condition that is prevalent in older people. The lens becomes less
transparent and turns misty or cloudy. Cataracts over time can get worse and impact upon vision. A
straightforward operation replaces the lens with an artificial one. A number of studies have
demonstrated the cost benefits of cataracts surgery in improving life quality and reducing the number
of falls.
Diabetic retinopathy - Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes. It occurs when
high blood sugar levels damage the cells at the back of the eye, known as the retina. If it is not
treated, it can lead to blindness.3
Low vision -This refers to people who have some useful vision which can often be improved with low
vision aids and adaptations. Low vision services may be based in a local hospital, located in
opticians' practices or offered from a resource centre run by the local society for people with sight
loss.
The causes of vision impairment in childhood are generally different to the causes of sight loss in
adults. The four most common causes are:
Cerebral Vision Impairment is ante- or post-natal damage to the vision processing parts of the brain.
(Cerebral vision impairment can be abbreviated to CVI)
Optic nerve disorders are a group of conditions where the optic nerve doesn’t transmit light signals to
the brain correctly.
Retinal or macular dystrophies are umbrella terms for a range of inherited conditions which cause the
retina to not function correctly.
Congenital cataracts can cause significant sight loss which is preventable if it is detected and quickly
treated.

7https://sites.google.com/site/educationaldisabilities/home/sensory-impairments

Educational Disabilities
Sensory Impairments
What are the definitions and classifications for students with sensory impairments?

o There are three classifications:

 o Blind or Visually-Impaired
o Under IDEA, a visual impairment, including blindness, means "an impairment in
vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's education
performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. (IDEA, Sec.
300.8 [c][13]
o Deaf or Hearing Impaired
o Under IDEA, the educational definition of deafness is as follows: "a hearing
impairment that is so severe that the child child is impaired in processing
linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely
affects a child's educational performance." (IDEA, Sec. 300.8[c][3])
o Under IDEA, a hearing impairment is "an impairment in hearing, whether
permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance
but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section." (IDEA,
Sec. 300.8[c][5])
o Deaf-Blind
o Under IDEA, "deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual
impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and
other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated
in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with
blindness." (IDEA, Sec. 300.8[c][2])

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