Sensory and Physical Needs
Sensory needs, which can be hearing loss and/or visual impairment or sensory processing difficulties and physical difficulties, can occur for a variety of reasons, e.g. congenital conditions (some progressive), injury or disease. The important consideration in this area is the degree to which the difficulties impact on a child’s or young person’s ability to access educational opportunities.
Different forms of Sensory and Physical Difficulties
Hearing Loss
- Hearing loss can be sensorineural, conductive or mixed
- The levels of hearing loss are mild, moderate, severe or profound.
Vision Loss
- Visual impairment is an eye condition that cannot be fully corrected by glasses or contact lenses
- The levels of vision are mild, moderate, severe or profound.
Multisensory Impairment
- Multisensory impairment occurs when there is a hearing loss and visual impairment, which are both educationally significant although they may be at different levels.
Sensory Processing Difficulty
- Our bodies and the environment send our brain information through our senses. We process and organise this information so that we feel comfortable and secure. When a child has difficulty coping with these demands, they may have sensory processing difficulties.
- A child may be under-sensitive or over-sensitive in the 5 areas:
- Proprioception
- Vestibular
- Auditory
- Oral Sensory
- Tactile
Physical Difficulty
- Physical/medical injures can be for a variety of reasons, eg congenital conditions (some progressive), injury or disease.
- A child with a physical difficulty may have a diagnosed medical condition which affects them physically. There may be an undiagnosed condition where the child presents with delayed development or impairment with their physical ability and/or presentation.
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