audiovisual disabilities
The Ministry of Health, represented by the Public Health Administration, conducted a health induction course for the audiovisual impairment program in 2014 at the Nose, Throat and Throat Center at King Fahd General Hospital in Jeddah. The course was coordinated and supervised by Dr. Hanan Sabban, Consultant of Family Medicine, Medical Director of Al-Shati Health Center in Jeddah, and coordinator of the audiovisual program in public health in Jeddah. He also participated in delivering the lectures:
Dr. Ryan Al-Husseini
Dr. Nuri - Eye Consultant
Dr. Areej Mansouri - Audiology Consultant
Dr. Saeed Bamakher - Consultant and Head of Audiology Department, King Fahd General Hospital, Jeddah
In a speech by Dr. Sabban to the Frequency Newspaper on the concept of audiovisual disabilities, Dr. Hanan said:
The application of the audiovisual program is aimed at the early detection of avoidable hearing and visual impairment cases.
Where studies have proven that more than 80% of cases of vision loss can be avoided in the case of early diagnosis,> these cases are for children at an early age and more than 50% of cases of hearing loss can be prevented.
To him> The Ministry of Health, represented by the Department of Health Programs, has been keen on training workers in the methods of early diagnosis by setting up several training courses and workshops for care physicians that started with the introductory course and continue to train all workers each according to his tasks.
Dr. Saban goes on to say: Before reviewing the educational challenges facing blind deaf people, we must know who are blind deaf and what are their characteristics and methods of education.
When the word "deaf blind" echoes people''s hearts, this word often raises different questions, feelings, attitudes, and concepts, which differ according to the nature of their culture and their awareness of issues of people with special needs. Thinking about how a blind deaf person can survive in society deprived of the blessing of sight hearing?
How can this person live in a world that combines stillness and darkness, or a world of dark silence?
Who are the Deafblind?
They are people with double sensory disabilities, meaning they are people with hearing and visual impairment as well, which results in severe communication problems and other developmental and educational problems so that they cannot be properly served in special education centers that care for deaf children or those based on Take care of blind children.
The IDEA has identified blind deaf people as follows
"A severe disruption in communication and other educational and developmental needs, so that the deaf-blind person cannot receive his own education in special educational programs in programs intended for children and young people with hearing disabilities or severe disabilities without special assistance that guarantees the satisfaction of their educational and learning needs resulting from audiovisual or disabilities Concurrent. "
Characteristics of growth of blind deaf children
Deafness and blindness lead to developmental, educational and communicative difficulties and problems that make these individuals unable to advance in special education programs except in the case of additional assistance commensurate with the nature of their double sensory disability
The most important characteristics of the development of blind deaf children can be reviewed as follows:
The deaf and blind children who are blind are less alert to what is going on around them because they lack audio and visual stimuli, so they are noticed that they are less crying than ordinary children, and the movement of their limbs is less, and they only pay attention to what is going on around them through the touch communication that is done with the knowledge of the family and their carers.
The appearance of the smile on the face of the blind deaf child is delayed for six months since birth, unlike the normal child who appears on his face as a manifestation of the involuntary reflex after about a month of his birth, in addition to that the smile of the blind deaf child is often more ambiguous in appearance and less Expression, and this is a natural thing. The smile usually appears on the face of the normal child when it is exposed to audio-visual stimuli, haptic, so it expresses happiness and reaction with a natural smile that mimics the smile drawn on the faces of those around him, which is not available for the blind deaf child, but this does not prevent Parents and those around him focus on physical touch by carrying the blind deaf child and playing him, and allow him to feel the faces that are manipulating him, until he feels the vibrations and air from the area of the mouth and throat that accompanies the issuance of different sounds, as well as approaching his ears and talking to him as if he were a normal child He hears and sees, in order to benefit from any remaining hearing and vision that he has, in addition to that touch contact in itself has a positive effect in training the sense of touch in the deaf enough child P on receiving feelings and feelings, and in training on various means and methods of communication that depend on the sense of hearing.
The blind deaf person lacks any simulation positions that are necessary to achieve general growth, especially linguistic and motor development. Education depends mainly on audiovisual simulation, so the blind child’s deaf blind to this simulation leads to depriving him of many opportunities for teaching and learning.
The blind deaf finds great difficulty in the ability to initiate social interaction around him because of his double sensory disability that affects his ability to expand the field of his social interaction, and thus affects his mental, social, linguistic and motor development, the blind deaf often finds him alone unless someone approaches and touches him in preparation To communicate with him.
A blind, deaf child passes through several years of childhood until a moment of success in his life comes to him, a moment when he is shocked by the shock of discovering his audiovisual impairment, and this moment comes when he can notice that he is different from others around him, and this moment is a difficult moment in the child’s life The blind deaf, and in the life of the whole family, and a person cannot describe and perceive any feeling of sadness and sorrow that this child has at this moment .. and what a moment it is! This requires alerting parents, and whoever takes care and rehabilitation of these children for this moment, so that they can help the child overcome the trauma, and think rationally about how to cope with his disability in a way that achieves self and social compatibility.
Some blind deaf children experience some emotional revolutions and anger, when they want to express the feelings in them, and what they think of ideas and desires, but their lack of language and methods of communication in the early years of life stands inhibiting the realization of that desire, where they are not able through descriptive references The primary is to express exactly what they want to say to those around them, which ultimately frustrates and anger them, and these emotional revolutions may take many forms, he may overthrow the things around him, he may be bashed his head against the wall or the ground, and he may bite his hand and physically harm himself .. Therefore, those around the child must understand the reasons leading to such behaviors and emotions, and work to alleviate their severity according to behavior modification programs.
(Meshcheryakov, 1974) notes, however, that some deaf blind children are blind at the beginning of their life before they receive training by performing random movements without meaning or purpose such as some tilt their head or body while sitting right and left like the movement of the pendulum, or they move their hands sudden movements without A goal similar to cramping movements, and sometimes he sits in his place and does not move for a long time without showing any interest in what is going on around him, and these behaviors are the result of almost complete disregard for the child around him, and the delay of his training by specialists at an early age.
The blind deaf person remains attached to his mother throughout the first years of his life, and depends heavily on him in all affairs of his life, but this extreme reliability, especially when the mother or those around him carries him in their arms all the time as a result of increased protection It will lead to severe child negativity, delaying his training in standing, walking and movement, and thus delaying all other aspects of his development.
A blind, deaf child tends to use physical games that depend on contact and repetitive movements according to a specific sequence, such as adults using their fingers in the process (jiggle) and joking at the bottom of his feet ... and other touch games.
A blind, deaf child tends to be self-centered as a result of his inability to communicate with others, and thus being ignored by others, which makes them feel ostracized and neglected. This leads to them developing some psychological defense strategies to protect themselves, which are rejection, stubbornness, non-compliance with orders, and response to others. , And resist any changes in the behavioral patterns that accustom to it.
A blind deaf child has the ability to develop mental naturally, but this growth will not be achieved, except by receiving various training on how to communicate with others to get out of his isolation, and training him in various life skills, in addition to teaching him the principles of reading, writing, arithmetic and some other academic subjects, And training on some handicrafts that suit the nature of his disability.
Teaching methods for the blind deaf
The general goal that is envisaged in the education of blind deaf people is not different in principle from the goal of education in general, which is to help learners achieve the maximum that their capabilities allow.
Unfortunately, the methods used to teach blind deaf children have not received the attention of those involved in special education programs until recently. Because double sensory disability is relatively rare.
Among the teaching methods most used for the deaf blind are those based on the following concepts:
Piaget Development Theory: This is done by encouraging blind deaf children to perform motor activities that aim to urge them to interact with their environment.
Behavioral theory: This is done through the use of behavior modification methods to reduce non-adaptive behavioral manifestations and the formation of adaptive responses among deaf-blind children, among which are various forms of reinforcement, particularly tactile and physical reinforcement.
Van Duck Theory: Van Duck believes that the first step in teaching a blind, deaf child is to free this child from his physical isolation. What this means is the necessity of developing his motor growth and introducing him to his body. Through crawling, walking and jumping, the child begins to separate himself from the things around him and begins to realize that there are things around him that have their own characteristics.
Educational challenges facing the deaf blind
Raising and educating blind deaf children faces many educational challenges that can be mentioned in the following points:
The multiple levels of hearing and vision loss among blind and deaf children, which entails the multiplicity of communication methods, teaching methods and strategies, the diversity of teaching aids and materials, and audiovisual aids. Rehabilitation programs for these children will also vary, which means that education in these programs will depend on individual education according to For the characteristics of each case individually, wh
