Sensory Impairments

When one of your senses (sight, hearing, smell,
touch, taste and spatial awareness) is no longer normal

Hearing

Sensorineural deafness

When there is a fault in the inner ear (cochlea)

Permanent

Level of hearing loss may be described as mild, moderate, severe or profound and may not be the same in each ear

Only a few children are completely deaf

Amplification of residual hearing may be made possible with a hearing aid

If the hearing loss is very bad then the child may be given a cochlear implant which allows electrical signals to be sent directly to the auditory nerve providing a sensation of hearing

Conductive deafness

Happens when sounds fail to pass efficiently through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea and auditory nerve

Caused by a build-up of fluid in the middle ear - glue ear

Most common type of hearing loss

Likely to fluctuate and be temporary

Often treated by inserting grommets into the eardrum - ventilation tubes which allow fresh air to enter the middle ear to keep it free of fluid

Physical

Emotional

Social

Speech and Language

Cognitive and Neurological

May struggle to communicate with others

May find it difficult to communicate with others

May use sign language, speech or a mixture of both

Likely to be withdrawn in social situations because they aren't confident

Low self-esteem

Hard to make friends if they can't hear as not everyone knows sign language so they won't be able to communicate with them

Low confidence

If they can't hear in sports activities then they won't be able to take part so their physical development will be impacted

If they can't hear and their teacher doesn't know sign language or they don't have an interpreter then they won't be able to understand what is being said so they won't be able to learn

Visual

Used to describe a child who has sight problems severe enough to interfere with their learning


The majority of children with a visual impairment still have some vision – only five per cent are totally blind

Most blind/partially sighted children have their sight problem from birth but a small number lose their sight later in life following illnesses/accidents

If they can't see then they will struggle forming friendships and relationships

If they can't see then they will struggle taking part in sports activities

Their learning will be impacted the most because they can't see their notes or the teachers powerpoint, notes, resources etc

Low independence