Blog 2 Assignment

This week our lesson focused on how vision and hearing can greatly affect a child’s ability to learn. I learned that vision and hearing problems need to be detected as early as possible so the child’s development is not impacted. Additionally, I learned the signs and symptoms of visual and hearing problems and ways to stimulate both. All of this information for be of use to me in the classroom in several ways.

Regarding the signs and symptoms of vision and hearing loss, it is important to be aware of them so that I may alert the child’s parents as soon as possible. If the problems are corrected as soon as possible, the child can be well on his way to excelling even more in the school environment. Being unaware of the symptoms of vision and hearing problems would be a great disservice to my students, as he or she would undoubtedly suffer academically or even socially.

As the daughter of a deaf parent, I know how hard it is to communicate effectively with one another. A person who can hear perfectly fine needs to exhibit a great deal of patience in communicating with the individual who has the hearing loss. My father has cochlear implants in both ears, but still cannot hear as well as he would like. In fact, he tells me our voices sound like robots and he has no way to distinguish between male or female especially if they are in the same room. Knowing there are children who wear cochlear implants, this will help me in the classroom because I will know how overwhelming the environment may be. Additional, help may be required for this student.

Knowing how to stimulate the vision and hearing of younger children, especially if I work with infants, is important. Their brains need to “catch up,” if you will, and learn to make sense of sounds for specific animals, vehicles, and the various objects that make up our world. Exposing them to various sounds and sights through games and music will greatly benefit them.