Multi-sensory Impairments Affecting Children's Development Essay

Multi-sensory Impairments Affecting Children's Development - Essay Example I felt it was crucial that I develop strategies that help them to connect with the world. My main aim was to enable them to experience the world around, and motivate them to move on. Overall, I was determined to incorporate strategies to overcome difficulties in accessing world around them. Introduction ‘A deaf-blind child is not a deaf child who cannot see or a blind child who cannot hear; the problem is not an additive one of deafness plus blindness. Nor is it solely one of communication or perception. It encompasses all these things and more. The deaf-blind are multisensory deprived; they are unable to utilize their distance senses of vision and hearing to receive non-distorted information.’ (McInnes & Treffery, 2001:2) The deafblind, like a multi-sensory impaired child, lacks the capability to use his/her senses to receive and process information. This is due to the limited access to information received through damaged senses. The deafblind children face a complexity of issues such as failure to communicate effectively in their social environment and interpreting events. This often results to restriction of the affected individuals in accessing and acquiring important information, as well as hampering their development (Chen, 1993, 1996 & 1999; Chen & Dote-Kwan, 1998; Fraiberg, 1977; McInners, 1999; McInners & Treffery, 2001; Mednick, 2004; Murdoch, 1994; Orelove et al., 2004; Wasserman et al., 1985). In this assignment, I will explain the complexity of needs that multi-sensory impaired children experience, and how this affects their development, knowledge, and understanding of the world around them. I will also seek to explore possible strategies that could be implemented to gradually extend thei r worlds, based on my observations of two particular pupils in my school. This assignment is divided into the following three sections. Firstly, I will attempt to define multi-sensory impairment and thoroughly explore its direct impact on learning on a day-to-day basis. Secondly, I will outline the abilities of two particular pupils in order to gain an insight into their learning. Finally, I will discuss various strategies, which would enable the pupils to access and improve their understanding and knowledge of the world, including a comprehensive reasoning behind the choice made and its effectiveness in practice. My role in relation to this project chiefly concerned observing and working with pupils. It was important to collaborate with teachers and support staff, as they could provide additional knowledge and experience of the children. In addition, I received a lot of support from my colleagues in this project. My objective was to find was of improving learning opportunities for pupils. Therefore, it was crucial to facilitate various strategies to increase pupils’ awareness, understanding, and knowledge of the world around them. Meaning and definition of multi-sensory impairment Children with multi–sensory impairment have historically been referred to as â€Å"deafblind†. Indeed, some people still refer to them as deafblind (Best, 1983; Brown, 1997; Brown & Bates, 2011; Collins, et al., 1991; Miles & Riggio, 2011; SENSE, 2011). In my opinion, being deafblind is different from being multi-sensory impaired. Children with multi-sensory impairment have more complex needs than deafblind. When it comes to cognition, it is even more difficult to determine their intellectual abilities and capabilities (DfE, 2011; DfH, 2011; Murdoch 1992; Pallant, 2011). According to available literature, the task of recognizing and identifying the needs of multi-sensory impaired children with regard to learning and educational needs is one of the key barriers f aced by educators