Visual Impairment
What is it?
Visual impairment is a general term used to describe any condition ranging from complete blindness to partial vision loss. The nation’s special education law states, “An impairment in vision, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance.”
Causes
Visual impairment is caused by a variety of factors. Partial or complete blindness can be classified into three separate causes. Their loss of vision is either congenital, trauma related, or disease related. Congenital blindness is being born blind, and can be caused by being inherited or through the mother getting and infection during pregnancy.
Treatment and Prevention
Prevention of visual impairment includes steps such as reducing the risk of sun damage, computer related eye strain, maintaining good eye health, and maintaining prenatal health and care. There are a variety of treatments for visual impairment that depend on the severity of the case. Glasses or contacts may be worn for less severe cases, while medications, surgery, and special devices and training is needed for worse cases.
Effects on Education
Special technology for learning is used by the visually impaired. Computers and low-vision optical and video aids make it easier for children in the classroom to learn. They also may need help with self care and daily living skills, with emphasis in areas including communication, listening skills, mobility and orientation, and career/vocation options.
The Benefits of Music
Through playing a musical instrument, parents have reported that their children visibly relax and are soothed as they express their emotion through sound. Listening to music and different instruments, especially at a young age, plays a key factor in auditory discrimination skills. Because of their heightened hearing senses children with visual impairments respond very positively to music. While other forms of enjoyment and expression, such as movies or reading, become more difficult, they gravitate towards music. Music allows the visually impaired to
express themselves through music since other things are too difficult with the lack of vision. Many visually impaired children have learned to convert pitches and sounds into colors. While to the general population music is purely an experience of audio to these children it stimulates all the senses. Music appears to them as sounds; these sounds are also accompanied by pictures created in their minds.
Visual impairment is a general term used to describe any condition ranging from complete blindness to partial vision loss. The nation’s special education law states, “An impairment in vision, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance.”
Causes
Visual impairment is caused by a variety of factors. Partial or complete blindness can be classified into three separate causes. Their loss of vision is either congenital, trauma related, or disease related. Congenital blindness is being born blind, and can be caused by being inherited or through the mother getting and infection during pregnancy.
Treatment and Prevention
Prevention of visual impairment includes steps such as reducing the risk of sun damage, computer related eye strain, maintaining good eye health, and maintaining prenatal health and care. There are a variety of treatments for visual impairment that depend on the severity of the case. Glasses or contacts may be worn for less severe cases, while medications, surgery, and special devices and training is needed for worse cases.
Effects on Education
Special technology for learning is used by the visually impaired. Computers and low-vision optical and video aids make it easier for children in the classroom to learn. They also may need help with self care and daily living skills, with emphasis in areas including communication, listening skills, mobility and orientation, and career/vocation options.
The Benefits of Music
Through playing a musical instrument, parents have reported that their children visibly relax and are soothed as they express their emotion through sound. Listening to music and different instruments, especially at a young age, plays a key factor in auditory discrimination skills. Because of their heightened hearing senses children with visual impairments respond very positively to music. While other forms of enjoyment and expression, such as movies or reading, become more difficult, they gravitate towards music. Music allows the visually impaired to
express themselves through music since other things are too difficult with the lack of vision. Many visually impaired children have learned to convert pitches and sounds into colors. While to the general population music is purely an experience of audio to these children it stimulates all the senses. Music appears to them as sounds; these sounds are also accompanied by pictures created in their minds.