Every day, we use our senses to experience the world around us, but this is very challenging for someone with a sensory disability condition. Almost everyone has come into contact with someone who has a sensory handicap, whether they are aware of it or not. Some sensory disorders are more prominent than others, and people who live with them may not show any clear indicators that they have a sensory disability. A person with a sensory disability may have some level of disability that might benefit from various levels of help, whether or not there are any obvious indicators.
What Exactly Are Sensory Impairments?
A sensory handicap affects the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and spatial awareness. People with sensory disorders may experience sensory input more or less vividly than others, affecting their ability to engage in various situations and carry out everyday tasks.
For those with sensory disability, there are three basic components:
- Sensory Modulation Disorder: An issue in converting sensory messages into regulated behaviour that fits the sensory information’s type and strength. Overreactions to touch, movement, noises, odours, and tastes, for example, might result in discomfort, avoidance, distraction, and anxiety.
- Sensory-Based Motor Disorder: An issue with stabilising, moving, or organising a series of motions in response to sensory demands is known as Sensory-Based Motor Disorder. Balance, gross motor, and fine motor coordination deficiencies, as well as the capacity to perform competent, familiar, and/or innovative motor movements, are examples.
- Sensory Discrimination Disorder: An issue in sensing similarities and contrasts between senses is known as a disorder. For example, improper visual or auditory input processing, inattentiveness, disorganisation, and poor academic achievement are examples of this.
The Most Common Types of Sensory Disabilities
As we discussed earlier, sensory impairment is a neurological condition that disables the brain’s ability to perceive and interpret information that comes in through the senses, such as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. According to how they are affected, sensory disabilities can make a person extremely sensitive to or insensitive to sensory input. The most common types of sensory disabilities are the following:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Deafness or Loss of Hearing
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Blindness and low vision
- Deaf-Blindness
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
It’s a type of developmental impairment that can create serious social, communication, and behavioural issues. People with ASD may communicate, engage, conduct, and learn differently than the majority of people. Some people with ASD require a great deal of assistance in their everyday lives, while others require less.
Deafness or Loss of Hearing
Hearing loss is defined as the inability to hear as well as someone with normal hearing — hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears. Mild, moderate, severe, or profound hearing loss are all possibilities. It affects one or both ears, making it difficult to hear conversational speech or loud noises. The majority of people who are labelled as “deaf” have substantial hearing loss, which means they have very little or no hearing. They frequently communicate via sign language. Hearing loss can be caused by damage to any component of the external, middle, or inner ear, and it can range from slight to profound.
Hearing loss can be caused by a variety of factors, including ear bone abnormalities, cochlear nerve injury, noise exposure, genetic illnesses, in utero exposure to diseases, ageing, trauma, and other diseases. The paths that sound takes to be gathered in our ears and processed in our brains are divided into four primary forms of hearing loss. They are as follows:
- Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder: Auditory neuropathy is caused by a lesion to the inner ear or hearing nerve, which causes the signals transmitted to the brain to be altered or inappropriate, similar to sensorineural hearing loss.
- Conductive Hearing Loss: It is a blockage or impediment that stops sound from travelling from the outer ear, where it is collected, to the middle ear, where it is transformed into minute vibrations, and finally to the inner ear, where it is sent to the brain as neurological impulses.
- Sensorineural hearing loss: occurs when the inner ear or hearing nerve malfunctions or is destroyed, leading sounds to not be transmitted correctly to the brain.
- Mixed Hearing Loss: is a mix of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss, including symptoms from both.
Sensory Processing Disorder
Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a neurological illness that alters the way your brain interprets sensory data (stimuli). Things you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch are all examples of sensory information. SPD can impact all or just one of your senses. SPD often indicates that you are hypersensitive to stimuli that other individuals are not. The following are some of the most common SPD symptoms:
- Intolerance of bright lights and loud noises.
- Refusal to put on clothes because it makes you feel weird
- Afraid of sudden contact and avoiding embraces even with familiar adults because of background noises that others don’t notice.
- Swings and playground equipment make you feel weird.
- They have a difficult time determining where their body is in relation to other things or people.
Low Vision and Blindness
Low vision is a term that describes a decrease in visual acuity with some vision remaining. It refers to those who, despite wearing glasses or contact lenses, are unable to read the paper at a typical distance of viewing.
Individuals who are totally blind require Braille, raised-line drawings, sound files, and/or other non-visual mediums to access the content of visually presented items.
Deaf-Blindness
Deaf-blindness is a condition in which a person’s ability to communicate, obtain information, and navigate is hampered by a combination of vision and hearing loss. It’s also known as “multi-sensory impairment” or “dual sensory loss.”
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What Factors Contribute to Sensory Impairments?
Depending on the type of sensory impairment, sensory impairments can have a range of causes. They can be congenital, which means someone is born with them as a result of a genetic mutation or maternal illness; genetic, which means the impairment is caused by a change in genetic material; metabolic, which means someone’s senses are affected by a chronic illness or lifestyle-related cause; or physical, which means someone’s senses are impaired as a result of a physical injury. Whatever the cause of a person’s sensory impairment, they all share one thing in common that is impaired brain function.
What Type of Assistance Do People With Sensory Impairments Require?
There are various options available, including professional assistance, treatment, and technology, that can enhance a person’s quality of life, depending on their sensory handicap and the unique needs that may develop to accommodate it. Therapy and assistive equipment are frequently beneficial to people with an autism spectrum disorder in order to enable them to fully engage in society. People who suffer from blindness or vision loss, as well as deafness or hearing loss, may require specialised technology as well as professional or caregiver assistance to improve their access. Therapy and support are typically beneficial to those with sensory processing disorders, but recent technological improvements may also be beneficial.
Sensory Disability and the NDIS
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides assistance to those who have a persistent and substantial sensory disability that limits their capacity to participate in daily activities. The NDIS works with you to determine the resources you’ll need to achieve your goals in a variety of areas. This might encompass things like independence, community engagement, education, employment, and health and well-being. It gives you more options and control over how and when you get help, and it assures that you get the help you need for the rest of your life. It also emphasises early intervention in order to reduce the burden of handicap on your loved ones.
The NDIS Act’s objectives include:
- Supporting independent living, social and community participation of the disabled fellowmen
- Providing reasonable and necessary support
- Early intervention services should be included
- Enabling people with disabilities to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals is a must. Planning and delivery of their support.
- Facilitating the development of a nationally consistent approach to the access and inclusion of people with disabilities
Whatever your loved one’s needs are, Legacy Care Solutions, the registered NDIS service providers will collaborate with you to identify your objectives and provide the finest solutions to help you live the life you want. You can rely on our expertise and experience, and if necessary, we can refer you to specialists. We’re looking forward to collaborating with you to build a healthier future.
