Review of the unit

6.1. 11 A round-table talk.

Contemporary technologies and devices and the problem of deafness.

Grammar revision

Ex. 1

Complete the following sentences using an opposite adjective in its comparative or superlative form.

Example: - You are the eldest in the family.

- No, I am not. I’m the youngest.

1. The books by Mark Twain are less interesting than O’Henry’s ones. – No, they are not. They are … . 2. It is worse than the previous one. – No, it is not. It is … . 3. His manners are more polite than yours. – No, they are not. They are … . 4. She came later than her mates. – No, she didn’t. She came … . 5. It’s warmer today than yesterday. – No, it’s not. It’s … . 6. They gave me the cheaper pair of shoes. – No, they did not. They gave … . 7. The US dollar is stronger than many other currencies. – No, it’s not. The Euro is … .

Ex. 2

Use the Past Simple or the Past Perfect where they are

necessary:

1. I (not to go) to bed until I (to do) my homework. 2. I (to thank) her for everything she (to do). 3. When I returned home I (to realize) that I (to leave) my key at the office. 4. As soon as they (to finish) their work they (to go) home. 5. Before I (to see) the film I (to read) the book.

DEVELOPMENT

6.12 Use the texts from the Reader. Make up a speech on the topic of the unit.

UNIT 7

VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS

7.1 Before you start reading the text, try to guess the meaning of the following words and word combinations if necessary use the dictionary:

Etiology, intervention, cataract, albinism, amblyopia, glaucoma, nystagmus, optic nerve atrophy, strabismus, style, result, cognitive, symbol, Braille, specially, contact.

WARMING UP

7.2 Before you start reading the text explain the term “visual” in English.

READING

7.3 Read the text making use of the active terminological vocabulary.

Text 1

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH

WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

Although visual impairment is a low-prevalence disability affecting only about 1% of the population with handicapping conditions, the characteristics of the population of children and youth with visual impairments vary from individual to individual. Factors such as etiology and age of onset of visual impairments, type and severity of the visual loss, and incidence of additional impairments all have an impact on development and learning. In addition, those children who become visually impaired prior to age 5 usually do not retain visual imagery and are taught concepts differently from those who lose their vision after this age.

Eye conditions found in children that may result in severe visual impairments that require intervention by specially trained teachers include: albinism, amblyopia, congenital cataracts, congenital glaucoma, nystagmus, optic nerve atrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, retinopathy of prematurity, strabismus.

Effects of Visual Impairment on Development

Lack of vision resulting in total blindness or low vision affects all areas of development including motor, cognitive, language, and social development.

Motor Development

Young infants with visual impairments begin to exhibit motor delays during the earliest stages of the sensorimotor period of development. Because of the lack of visual input, infants do not naturally know that objects exist out in the environment; they are therefore not motivated to reach or move toward objects. Until infants learn to connect the sound of an object with its source, they do not move, which further results in locomotor delays. Many children and youth with visual impairments also exhibit low muscle tone and poor proprioception (sensory awareness of the body's position in space) and as a result have poor posture and faulty gait patterns.

Concept Development

Children and youth with blindness and severe visual impairments, particularly who are born blind or who lose their vision early in life, have deficits in their information-gathering system. Without the use of vision, blind children must use their remaining senses to acquire concepts and perceptions. They acquire information in incomplete ways and sometimes reach erroneous conclusions. Hearing provides clues as to distance and direction, but it does not provide any ideas regarding such concrete aspects as size and shape. The sense of touch is helpful in furthering development of concrete concepts, but some objects are inaccessible to tactual observation. He or she is dependent on others to explain and interpret the experience.

As a result of possible delays in acquiring concepts, such children fall behind their sighted peers in the development of skills acquired during later stages, including conservation and classification.

Language Development

Without the ability to see facial expressions and use eye gaze and gestures such as pointing, children with visual -impairments are unable to use these early communication cues with their parents as a means to direct attention, convey messages, and share information. Parents of children tend only to provide names of objects or requests for objects without any additional enriched information because they receive little or no feedback or indication that the child understands or is even interested. This prevents the child from acquiring increasingly complex language patterns. Such children ask more questions, change the topic to focus on their own interests, and relate more to adults in communication than to their peers.

Some children with visual impairments inappropriately overuse verbal descriptions that are based on the visual impressions of others.

Social Development

A child with little or no vision is unable to rely on visual signals such as eye gaze and smiling by parents, siblings, and peers in social exchanges with him or her. This can cause negative attitudes toward the child and result in his or her becoming socially isolated. How others react to and interact with the child with a visual impairment clearly affect his or her ability to develop a positive self-concept, a sense of independence, and opportunities for further experiences to develop social competence. Without vision, it is difficult to initiate and maintain social contact. As a result, this child may initiate conversation when no one is near. Sometimes young blind or low vision children use physical contact such as a tap on the arm in place of eye contact in their social exchanges, a behavior that may hinder friendship because some sighted children do not want to be touched.

Some social skills that are learned naturally through visual imitation need to be taught specifically to children with visual impairments. These skills include looking at the person who is speaking, standing up straight with head up, positioning one's body at a certain distance from a peer or teacher, initiating conversations, joining a group, and learning to be a good listener and share in the conversation. Appearance, grooming, and current styles of dressing are also important in relation to furthering social skills.

Braille

Braille is a tactual system for reading and writing that is used by those who are blind or who have too little vision to be able to use print as a communication tool. It was developed in 1829 by Louis Braille, a Frenchman who was himself blind. Braille consists of embossed characters using various combinations of raised dots in a braille cell, which is two dots wide and three dots high. In Grade 1 braille, each character stands for a letter, and words are spelled just as they are in print. In Grade 2 braille, words and parts of words are contracted in order to save space and increase the reading rate. For example, in Grade 2 braille, when the letter "e" stands alone it means the word "every." Grade 2 braille is complex to learn, and one of its major disadvantages is that there is often no relationship between the braille symbols and the actual spelling of the word. Thus, the blind child in a regular class learning to read has a more difficult time than his or her sighted peers. Young students write in braille at the same time as they learn to read it. They use the braille-writer. The specially trained teacher of learners with visual impairments is responsible for providing braille reading and writing instruction. The itinerant or resource room teacher also transcribes material into braille for a braille student and translates his or her written work back into print so that the student can keep up with sighted peers and be evaluated appropriately by the regular classroom teacher.