MODULE III

LEARNERS WITH DIFFICULTY

SEEING, HEARING, AND
COMMUNICATING

Lesson 1 Types, Characteristics, and

Identification of Learners with
Difficulty Seeing, Hearing, and
Communicating

Lesson 2 Principles and Strategies of

Teaching and Designing IEP for
Learners with Difficulty Seeing,
Hearing, and Communicating

Lesson 3 Trends and Issues in Teaching

Learners with Difficulty Seeing,
Hearing, and Communicating

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MODULE III

LEARNERS WITH DIFFICULTY SEEING, HEARING, AND COMMUNICATING

 INTRODUCTION

This module discusses the characteristics of learners with difficulty

seeing, hearing, and communicating in which appropriate IEP can be
developed. Further it presents trends and issues in teaching this type of
learners.

OBJECTIVES

After studying the module, you should be able to:

1. identify learners with difficulty seeing, hearing, and communicating

2. design an individualized education plan (IEP) applying the principles and
strategies responsive to learners with difficulty seeing, hearing, and
communicating
3. analyze trends and issues in teaching learners with difficulty seeing,
hearing, and communicating

 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

There are three (3) lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully
then answer the  learning activities (LA) to find out how much you have
benefited from it. Work on these exercises carefully and submit your output
to your instructor.
In case you encounter difficulty, discuss this with your instructor during
your online meeting. Good luck and have fun learning!

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Lesson 1
TYPES, CHARACTERISTICS, AND IDENTIFICATION

 LEARNERS WITH DIFFICULTY SEEING, HEARING,

AND COMMUNICATING

This lesson discusses the various types of learners with difficulty

seeing, hearing and communicating. Among topics covered in this lesson are
learners with visual and/or hearing impairment and learners with
communication disorders such as speech sound, language, fluency and autism
spectrum disorder. Common characteristics of each type of learner is
discussed as well as ways of identifying them.

Learners with Difficulty Seeing

Here are categories and definitions of terms often used in association
with having difficulty seeing. (Heward, 2017)

A. Legal Definitions
1. Visual acuity. This refers to the ability to distinguish forms or
discriminate among details. It is usually measured by reading letters,
numbers, or other symbols from the Snellen Eye Chart.
2. Legal blindness. This refers to having visual acuity of 20/200 or less in
the better eye with use of a corrective lens. When one’s field of vision
is restricted to an area no greater than 20 degrees, one can also be
considered legally blind.
3. Partially sighted. Individuals are those whose visual acuity in the
better eye after correction falls between 20/70 and 20/200.
4. Tunnel vision. This is a condition of having a perception of viewing the
world through a narrow tube. In this case, central vision may be good,
but the peripheral vision is poor at the outer ranges of the visual field.

B. Educational Definitions
1. Visual impairment. This means having impairment in vision that, even
with correction, adversely affects a learner’s educational
performance. This includes both partial sight and blindness.
2. Total blindness. This refers to receiving no useful information through
the sense of vision. In this case, a learner uses tactile and auditory
senses for all learning.
3. Functional blindness. In this case, the learner has so little vision that
one learns primarily through tactile and auditory senses. However,
limited vision may still be used to supplement the information once
receives from the other senses.

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Types of Visual Impairment

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Characteristics of Learners with Difficulty Seeing

Area of Characteristics
Learning/Development
Cognition and Language Poorer compared with those with normal vision in
terms of tasks that require comprehension or
relating various kinds of information. Their poor
vision makes it difficult for them to see and
understand the relationships among various
experiences with their senses.
Motor Development & Delays, deficits and limitations in motor
Mobility development and purposeful movements are
lessened due to low motivation and experiences
of painful contact with the environment.

They have such repetitive movements including

body rocking, eye pressing and poking, hand
flapping and hand weaving
Social Adjustment & Less engagement in play, increased social
Interaction isolation, less benefiting from role models due to
inability to observe them, difficulty in responding
to social signals of others which reduces
opportunities for reciprocal interaction

Identifying Learners with Difficulty Seeing

These are some indicators or ways to determine if a learners has
difficulty seeing.
1. Eye appearance
 These include turning of one eye in or out at any time, reddening
of eyes or lids, excessive tearing of eyes, having encrusted
eyelids or frequently developing sties on lids could be signs of
developing eye and visual problems. Other signs include
headache, eye-itching, nausea, dizziness, blurring vision and
other eye-related conditions needing medical attention.
2. Behavioral signs
 Includes deficits in eye movements, turning of head as one reads
across the page, frequently losing place during reading, needing
the use of finger or marker just to keep place when reading,
having short attention span in reading or copying, frequent
omission of words, writing in uphill or downhill direction on
paper, rereading or skipping lines without being aware of it,
complaining of having double vision, repeating of letters within
words, omission of letters, numbers or phrases, misalignment of
digits in number columns, frequent squinting or need to cover
one eye to see better, extreme tilting of head during desk work,
consistent gross plural deviations when doing desk work,
handwriting is crooked and poorly spaced, holding a book too
close or far, excessive blinking etc.

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3. Snellen Chart
 It is also called Snellen eye chart, chart used to measure
visual acuity by determining the level of visual detail that a
person can discriminate. It was developed by the Dutch
ophthalmologist Herman Snellen in 1862 and was adopted by
medical professionals in many countries who have used it for
more than 100 years. It consists of 11 lines of block letters, also
known as “optotypes,” which are constructed according to strict
geometric rules and whose size decreases on each lower line of
the chart.

4. Vision Services Rating Scale (VSSRS)

 It has been developed to assist the Teacher Consultant for the
Visually Impaired (TCVI) or Teacher of the Visually Impaired
(TVI) in making recommendations for services to students who
are blind or visually impaired.

Learners with Difficulty Hearing

Four levels of Deafness
There are four levels of deafness or hearing impairment. These are:
1. Mild deafness or mild hearing impairment. The person can only detect
sounds between 25 and 29 decibels (dB). They may find it hard to
understand the words other people are saying, especially if there is a lot
of background noise.
2. Moderate deafness or moderate hearing impairment. The person can
only detect sounds between 40 and 69 dB. Following a conversation using
hearing alone is very difficult without using a hearing aid.

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3. Severe deafness. The person only hears sounds above 70 to 89 dB. A

severely deaf person must either lip-read or use sign language in order to
communicate, even if they have a hearing aid.
4. Profound deafness. Anybody who cannot hear a sound below 90dB has
profound deafness. Some people with profound deafness cannot hear
anything at all, at any decibel level. Communication is carried out using
sign language, lip-reading, or reading and writing.

Hearing loss can also be described as (CDC, 2021):

1. Unilateral or Bilateral. Hearing loss is in one ear (unilateral) or both ears
(bilateral).
2. Pre-lingual or Post-lingual. Hearing loss happened before a person
learned to talk (pre-lingual) or after a person learned to talk (post-lingual)
3. Symmetrical or Asymmetrical. Hearing loss is the same in both ears
(symmetrical) or is different in each ear (asymmetrical).
4. Progressive or Sudden. Hearing loss worsens over time (progressive) or
happens quickly (sudden).
5. Fluctuating or Stable. Hearing loss gets either better or worse over time
(fluctuating) or stays the same over time (stable).
6. Congenital or Acquired/Delayed Onset. Hearing loss is present at birth
(congenital) or appears sometime later in life (acquired or delayed onset).

Characteristics of Learners with Difficulty Hearing

Area of Characteristics
Learning/Development
Literacy They have fewer vocabularies, learns concrete
words easier than the abstract ones, have
difficulty with function words such as linking
verbs, articles etc., have tendency to omit word
endings and difficulty in learning words with
multiple meanings, have difficulty in
differentiating questions from declarative
statements and writing sentences in the passive
voice.
Speaking There is a tendency for them to speak too loudly
or not loudly enough, or have problems in terms
of having abnormally high pitch, or improper
stress or inflection.
Academic Achievement Most perform poorly due to their listening
difficulties. However, it is important to note that
academic performance is not equated with
intelligence. It does not mean they have less
cognitive abilities.
Social Functioning Hearing loss can result to feelings of isolation,
unhappiness and limits socialization. Thus they
may experience, feelings of depression and
withdrawal

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Identifying Learners with Difficulty Hearing

These are some indicators or ways to determine if a learners has
difficulty hearing
1. Speech problem
 Includes inability to say words correctly due to hearing
difficulty, opting to use nonverbal gestures over verbal
communication
2. Inattentiveness
 The learner does not respond when being called repeatedly or
is slow to answer, answers incorrectly or asks things repeatedly.
Further, the person may need to look directly at another person
in order to understand what is being said (e.g. lip reading)
3. Increasing volume
 The person necessitates to increase the volume of the
television, radio, or computer too high or ask the person they
are talking with to talk louder to compensate for the difficulty
in hearing.
4. Learning difficulties & Trouble with following instructions
 They may be confused by verbal directions and consistently ask
to repeat instructions. Consequently, they also have difficulty
expressing themselves
5. Social withdrawal
 They tend to avoid social situations and thus may not participate
in group activities or gatherings.

Learners with Difficulty Communicating

A communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to receive,
send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic
symbol systems. A communication disorder may be evident in the processes
of hearing, language, and/or speech. A communication disorder may range in
severity from mild to profound. It may be developmental or acquired.
Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of communication
disorders. A communication disorder may result in a primary disability or it
may be secondary to other disabilities.

Types of Communication Disorders

Communication disorders are grouped in several ways. (American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1993)

a. Speech disorders affects voice. They include:

 articulation disorder (changing or substituting words so that messages
are harder to understand)
 fluency disorder (speaking with an irregular rate or rhythm of speech)
 voice disorder (having an abnormal pitch, volume, or length of speech)
b. Language disorders affect how a person use speech or writing. They
include language form disorders, which affect:
 phonology (sounds that make up language systems)

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 morphology (structure and construction of words)

 syntax (how sentences are formed)
 language content disorders, which affect semantics (meanings of
words and sentences)
 language function disorders, which affect pragmatics (use of socially
appropriate messages)

Characteristics of Learners with Difficulty Communicating

Learner with difficulty communicating can be characterized by
excessive speech rate, repetitive, extra or mispronounced sounds, poor or
absent use of pauses, prolongations and hesitations in producing sounds,
verbal blocks, misuse of words, inappropriateness of voice quality, pitch,
loudness, resonance and duration to one’s age or sex, inability to
communicate in an understandable way, inability to comprehend messages,
makes only a few sounds or gestures like pointing etc.

Identifying Learners with Difficulty Communicating

These are some ways to determine if a learners has difficulty
communicating
1. Case History and Physical Examination
 The child’s case history is documented. Biographical information, as
well as milestones of child’s development is asked from parents, and
the specialist does a physical examination of the child.
2. Articulation
 A specialist assesses speech errors and records sounds that are
produced incorrectly, types of mispronunciation, and number of errors.
3. Hearing
 Hearing disorder is the result of impaired auditory sensitivity of the
physiological auditory system. A hearing disorder may limit the
development, comprehension, production, and/or maintenance of
speech and/or language.
4. Overall Language Development and Vocabulary
 These include tests that measure a child’s vocabulary such as Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Test-5 as an indicator of language competence.
5. Assessment of Language Function
 This involves identification of a learner’s strengths and weaknesses in
various language functions, then comparing them to language and
communication skills of typically developing children.
6. Language Samples
 Samples of child’s expressive speech and language are taken and
examined.
7. Observation in Natural Settings
 Children’s use of language are observed as they engage in everyday
activities.

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Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition related to brain

development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with
others, causing problems in social interaction and communication. The
disorder also includes limited and repetitive patterns of behavior.

Characteristics with Autism Spectrum Disorder

A. Social communication deficits may include decreased sharing of
interests with others, difficulty appreciating their own & others’
emotions, aversion to maintaining eye contact, lack of proficiency with
use of non-verbal gestures, stilted or scripted speech, and interpreting
abstract ideas literally and difficulty making friends or keeping them.

B. Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors may include

inflexibility of behavior, extreme difficulty coping with change, being
overly focused on niche subjects to the exclusion of others, expecting
others to be equally interested in those subjects, difficulty tolerating
changes in routine and new experiences, sensory hypersensitivity, e.g.,
aversion to loud noises, stereotypical movements such as hand
flapping, rocking, spinning, and arranging things, often toys, in a very
particular manner.

Identifying Learners with Difficulty Communicating

The following are some instruments in identifying ASD.
1. Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ)
o This is a 40 survey question set that was earlier known as autism
screening questionnaire. This screening questionnaire measures
the degree of autism spectrum disorder.
2. Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ)
o The ASSQ is a 27 question assessment filled in by parents or
teachers of children or adolescents (6 to 17 years of age). It is
designed to be an initial screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) especially in those with high or normal IQ, or those with
only mild intellectual disability. It is not appropriate for people
with moderate or severe intellectual disability.
3. Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI)
o The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is a
standardized interview used to diagnose autism and distinguish
it from other developmental disorders.
4. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)
o The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is an
instrument for diagnosing and assessing autism. The protocol
consists of a series of structured and semi-structured tasks that
involve social interaction between the examiner and the person
under assessment.

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 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Based from your understanding of lesson 1, answer the following using

google forms in the link to be forwarded by your instructor in the google
classroom under classwork.

CLASSIFICATION: Classify the following attributes and terminologies as

BEST associated to learners with difficulty a) seeing, b) hearing or c)
communicating.

1. nonresponsive to calls or questions asked

2. frequent painful physical contact with the environment
3. otitis media
4. being overly focused on specific subject or area of interest
5. Snellen chart
6. short or lengthy pronunciation of words
7. myopia
8. headaches and dizziness
9. talking very loudly or too softly
10. frequent pointing to objects being referred to
11. poor handwriting and letter spacing
12. difficulty in adapting to changes in routines
13. lip reading
14. incorrect arrangement of words in their sentences
15. extreme tilting of head when writing

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education Module III