Visual Impairments
Sees close objects clearly, but not objects in the distance
●● Headaches and vertigo
●● Eye rubbing
●● Difficulty reading
●● Clumsiness (frequently walking into objects)
●● Poor school performance
What is Myopia (nearsightedness)
The two most common sensory impairments in children
What are eyes and ears?
When assessing a child's vision have them stand this far away from the reading chart.
What is 10 feet
Chromosomal abnormality which may cause the child to have hearing impairments?
What is Down's Syndrome (Trisomy 21)?
This maternal prenatal lab test for Down's Syndrome
What is alpha-fetoprotein?
● Sees distant objects clearly, but not objects that are close
●● Because of accommodation, not usually detected
until age 7
What is Hyperopia (farsightedness)
Decreased ability to see clearly
●● Possible loss of peripheral vision
●● Nystagmus
●● Strabismus
●● Gray opacity of the lens
●● Absence of red reflex
What are cataracts?
A child who is unable to process linguistic sounds?
What are hearing impairments?
Interference of sound transmission resulting from Otitis Media, external ear infections, foreign body
What is conductive hearing loss?
What a parent can do to help prevent upper respiratory infections in a child with Downs
What is place a cool mist humidifier in the room at night.
Uneven vision in which only parts of letters on a page can be seen
●● Headache and vertigo
●● Appearance of normal vision because tilting the head enables all letters to be seen
What is Astigmatism ?
Loss of peripheral vision
●● Perception of halos around objects
●● Red eye
●● Excessive tearing (epiphora)
●● Photophobia
●● Spasmodic winking (blepharospasm)
●● Corneal haziness
●● Enlargement of the eyeball (buphthalmos)
What is Glaucoma?
To be diagnosed as legally blind
What is 20/200 or worse
Interference along nerve pathways resulting in hearing loss
What is Sensorineural?
Childhood cancer that has an increased incidence
What is leukemia?
Different refractive strength in each eye
●● Headache and vertigo
●● Excessive eye rubbing
●● Poor school performance
What is Amisometropia?
A condition of prematurity affecting the eyes
What is retinopathy of prematurity?
20/70 - 20/200
What is Partial Visual Impairment (Partially Blind)?
A newborn reflex that may be absent in an infant with impaired hearing
What is startle reflex?
Name 5 characteristics of Down's Syndrome
●● Small round head
●● Flattened forehead
●● Upward, outward slant to eyes
●● Small nose with depressed nasal bridge (saddle nose)
●● Small ears with short pinna
●● Epicanthal folds
●● High‑arched narrow palate
●● Protruding tongue
●● Short, broad neck
●● Shortened rib cage
●● Possible congenital heart defect
●● Protruding abdomen
●● Incurved fifth finger (clinodactyly)
●● Broad, short feet and hands with stubby toes and fingers
●● Transverse palmar crease
●● Large space between big and second toes with
plantar crease
●● Short stature
●● Hyperflexibility, muscle weakness, and hypotonia
●● Dry skin that cracks easily
●● Frowning or squinting
●● Difficulty seeing print clearly
●● One eye closed to enable better vision
●● Head tilted to one side
●● Headache, dizziness, diplopia, photophobia, and
crossed eyes with an inward deviation
"
What is Esotropia Strabismus?
●● Frowning or squinting
●● Difficulty seeing print clearly
●● One eye closed to enable better vision
●● Head tilted to one side
●● Headache, dizziness, diplopia, photophobia, and
crossed eyes with an outward deviation
What is Extropia Stabismus?
Ishihara or Hardy-Rand-Ritter
What are the tests for color blindness (color vision)?
2 Symptoms that an older child may have a hearing impairment
Using gestures rather than talking after 15 months
●● Failure to develop understood speech by 24 months
●● Yelling to express emotions
●● Irritability due to inability to gain attention
●● Seeming shy or withdrawn
●● Inattentive to surroundings
●● Speaking in monotone
●● Need for repeated conversation
●● Speaking loudly for situation
Name 3 medical diagnoses that accompany Down's Syndrome
congenital heart malformation
hypotonicity,
dysfunction of the immune system
thyroid dysfunction
Hearing/Visual impairments