In this week lectures, I have learned about hearing and visual impairment that are commonly seen in daily life. These two impairments can occur for different reasons, both congenitally and postnatally. I personally concern about impairment impacts on children, so I searched resources regarding children with either hearing or visual impairment.
On the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, I read and am moved about Julian's story.When Julian was almost two years old, he developed this adorable habit of closing one eye when he looked at you. It almost seemed as if he were winking. The possibility that Julian had a visual impairment didn’t initially occur to his parents, but when Julian’s right eye started crossing inward toward his nose.
Link: http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/visualimpairment
Link: http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/visualimpairment
Off they went to the eye doctor, who confirmed that, yes, Julian had a visual impairment—amblyopia, often called “lazy eye.” As the most common cause of vision problems in children, amblyopia is the medical term used when vision in
one eye is reduced because that eye and the brain are not working together properly. Soon Julian had a brand-new pair of durable glasses suited to his active two-year-old self. The eye doctor also put an eyepatch over Julian’s better eye, so that he would have to use the weaker eye and strengthen its communication with the brain.
Besides the story, the website informs me more information about visual impairment including the definitions, signs, and causes. However, it does not mention too much information of community help until I read another story about
Jason.
Jason, a form 4 student who lost his vision completely at the age of 4, transferred from a school for students with a visual impairment to a mainstream school two years ago. The school has been accepting students with visual impairments for some years. Its integrated setting has been well received by the teachers and students. Despite the friendly atmosphere, Jason was quite shy and uneasy at the beginning.
The teachers and classmates realized Jason's difficulties in adapting to the new environment, and extended to him as much support as possible. Apart from providing him the right kind of adaptive aids, such as a braille note-taker and
a talking word processor, the resource teacher also gave him a comprehensive briefing before the school year started, not to mention helping him learn his way around the school. The resource teacher also met with him on a regular basis
to keep track of his progress in adapting to school life.
Academically, he found it easier to learn arts subjects, as he preferred dealing with words rather than numbers. He particularly liked his English teacher as she allayed his fears of making mistakes, and built up his confidence in learning. She encouraged him to speak up in class and provided him tutorial guidance after school. In time, he became one of the few in class who scored "A" in English.
BBC Website Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/visual-impairment-theos-story/13706.html
Certainly, not everyone can be treated in the same way. And Theo, a young boy with a visual impairment, on the other hand does not want to be treated differently because of his disability. In the BBC video, Theo interprets how visual impairment affects his life. He dislikes it when people are being too nice to him. Theo talks about how his friends help to look after him especially when he is being teased or bullied. Theo has to take medication every three hours. Theo talks about the ways in which changes have been made to help him. He has developed his other senses so that he can live as full a life as possible.
From these stories, I feel like we should understand individuals with visual impairment better before we make any treatment on them. It is for sure that we want to help them to recover from the impairments, but more importantly let them recover with a better self-identification and do not feel any difference from the normal.
one eye is reduced because that eye and the brain are not working together properly. Soon Julian had a brand-new pair of durable glasses suited to his active two-year-old self. The eye doctor also put an eyepatch over Julian’s better eye, so that he would have to use the weaker eye and strengthen its communication with the brain.
Besides the story, the website informs me more information about visual impairment including the definitions, signs, and causes. However, it does not mention too much information of community help until I read another story about
Jason.
Jason, a form 4 student who lost his vision completely at the age of 4, transferred from a school for students with a visual impairment to a mainstream school two years ago. The school has been accepting students with visual impairments for some years. Its integrated setting has been well received by the teachers and students. Despite the friendly atmosphere, Jason was quite shy and uneasy at the beginning.
The teachers and classmates realized Jason's difficulties in adapting to the new environment, and extended to him as much support as possible. Apart from providing him the right kind of adaptive aids, such as a braille note-taker and
a talking word processor, the resource teacher also gave him a comprehensive briefing before the school year started, not to mention helping him learn his way around the school. The resource teacher also met with him on a regular basis
to keep track of his progress in adapting to school life.
Academically, he found it easier to learn arts subjects, as he preferred dealing with words rather than numbers. He particularly liked his English teacher as she allayed his fears of making mistakes, and built up his confidence in learning. She encouraged him to speak up in class and provided him tutorial guidance after school. In time, he became one of the few in class who scored "A" in English.
BBC Website Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/visual-impairment-theos-story/13706.html
Certainly, not everyone can be treated in the same way. And Theo, a young boy with a visual impairment, on the other hand does not want to be treated differently because of his disability. In the BBC video, Theo interprets how visual impairment affects his life. He dislikes it when people are being too nice to him. Theo talks about how his friends help to look after him especially when he is being teased or bullied. Theo has to take medication every three hours. Theo talks about the ways in which changes have been made to help him. He has developed his other senses so that he can live as full a life as possible.
From these stories, I feel like we should understand individuals with visual impairment better before we make any treatment on them. It is for sure that we want to help them to recover from the impairments, but more importantly let them recover with a better self-identification and do not feel any difference from the normal.