Understand the factors that impact on an individual with sensory loss
Analyse how a range of factors can impact on individuals with sensory loss, including: communication information familiar layouts and routines mobility Discuss each of these headings in relation to each of the three types of sensory loss.
It may be difficult to communicate effectively with someone suffering with sensory loss such as
Blindness/visually impaired
Hearing loss/hearing impairment
Deaf/blind
Communication
Blind or visually impaired
Communication can become a barrier when someone is blind or impaired as in society we read a lot from someone’s body language and this often is seen through gestures of the way people are sitting standing and holding their position. Also it can have a serious impact as they may not be able to see facial expressions such as a smile or frown. These impacts on the way the person can interpret the conversation or the sort of communication going on around them. Also they may not be able to see who they are speaking to it is vital we make this clear when communicating with someone who has a visual impairment. Communication with friends may become difficult as often sensory loss is not noticed and people may feel the person isn’t communicating as they don’t want to this can make someone who is impaired feel socially isolated and frustrated it can impact strongly on their social lives and methods of communication in day to day activity.
Hearing impaired
Someone who has difficulty hearing or completely deaf can have difficulty communicating someone who has been impaired for a while may lip read or be able to sign language, but this is still a difficulty as a lot of people do not know how to sign, and if unaware the person is lip reading may not form words properly so the person can read them clearly. Also someone who has been deaf or partial hearing may have a difficulty when speech is concerned this may be that they are not able to form words clearly which greatly impacts on communication. They may feel socially isolated and anxious when communicating or even embarrassed. Slight hearing impairment can also greatly impact on communication they may not be able to hear someone talking as they may not be talking loudly enough or are unaware the person has difficulty and may believe the person is ignoring them. Often people who are hearing impaired isolate themselves as they feel there communication is lost it are important to encourage and promote communication so they can live as independently as possible and there emotional and social needs are met.
Deaf/blind
When someone suffers from both impairments at once they become at a risk of social isolation as communication may be greatly difficult they may feel they cannot communicate correctly of effectively and will not feel valued. Communication with someone who is deaf blind greatly depends on how much each sense has been depleted. Background noise and lighting may have a great impact on the way they are able to communicate it is important to remember there sensory loss can be a big strain and tiring for there to communicate a lot as it may take a lot of concentration. This may affect their communication as they may be too tired to communicate effetely.
Information
Someone who is visually impaired may struggle to get the correct information they need around them. This may be being able to read bankstatments or financial documents. They may struggle to read medication correctly. When this is in a home setting information is of vital importance for example paying bills or simply reading the post. Having a visual impairment can impact greatly on how someone can live there life without any effective aids such as glasses or brail. This will impact on their emotional state they may become vulnerable to financial abuse miss medication or overdose of medication when no assistance or interventions are in place. A person who is visually impaired may even struggle to get the