Sensory Disabilities Lecture Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards defining terms related to visual, hearing, somatosensory, gustatory, olfactory, and dual-sensory impairments.

Visual Impairment (IDEA Definition)

Refers to an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's performance, including both partial sight and blindness.

Strabismus

A visual condition where the eyes do not line up and look in different directions, also called crossed eyes.

Congenital Cataracts

A cloudy spot on the eye's lens that a baby is born with, which blocks clear vision.

Retinopathy of Prematurity

An eye problem in babies born too early, caused by abnormal blood vessels growing in the eye.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

An inherited eye disease that slowly damages the retina, causing loss of side vision and trouble seeing at night.

Optic Nerve Hypoplasia

A condition where the nerve that sends visual signals from the eye to the brain does not develop fully, causing vision loss.

Cortical Visual Impairment

Vision loss caused by a problem in the brain rather than the eyes, where the eyes work fine but the brain has trouble understanding what it sees.

Refractive Errors

A vision problem that occurs when the eye cannot focus light properly on the retina, causing blurred vision.

Emmetropia

Normal vision in which light focuses correctly on the retina, allowing a person to see clearly at both near and far distances.

Myopia (Nearsightedness)

A refractive error in which distant objects appear blurry while nearby objects are seen clearly.

Hyperopia (Farsightedness)

A refractive error in which nearby objects appear blurry, while distant objects are usually seen more clearly.

Astigmatism

A refractive error caused by an irregularly shaped cornea or lens, resulting in blurred or distorted vision at any distance.

Presbyopia

An age-related condition in which the eye gradually loses its ability to focus on nearby objects.

Cataracts

A condition in which the eye's natural lens becomes cloudy, causing blurry or dim vision.

Diabetic Retinopathy

An eye disease caused by diabetes that damages the blood vessels in the retina and can lead to vision loss.

Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR)

The early stage of diabetic retinopathy, where damaged blood vessels in the retina leak blood or fluid.

Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (PDR)

The advanced stage of diabetic retinopathy, where abnormal new blood vessels grow on the retina and may bleed, causing severe vision loss.

Glaucoma

A group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, often due to increased pressure inside the eye, causing permanent vision loss if left untreated.

Open-Angle Glaucoma

The most common type of glaucoma that develops slowly and damages the optic nerve over time.

Angle-Closure Glaucoma

A type of glaucoma in which the eye's drainage angle becomes blocked, causing a sudden increase in eye pressure.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

An eye disease that damages the macula, the central part of the retina, leading to the gradual loss of central vision, especially in older adults.

Dry (Atrophic) AMD

The most common form of AMD, caused by the gradual thinning of the macula, leading to slow central vision loss.

Wet (Exudative) AMD

A more severe form of AMD caused by abnormal blood vessels growing under the retina that leak blood or fluid, resulting in rapid vision loss.

Hearing Impairment

A problem in hearing, which can be permanent or temporary, that can affect a child's ability to learn, but isn't defined as deafness.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Hearing loss in which something keeps sound from passing through your outer ear (ear canal) or your middle ear.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss that happens when something damages your inner ear over time, or rarely, happens very quickly.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL)

Sensorineural hearing loss that happens very quickly, all at once or over a few days; also known as sudden deafness.

Mixed Hearing Loss

Hearing loss that happens when you have issues in your middle or outer ear (conductive hearing loss) and your inner ear (sensorineural hearing loss).

Tinnitus

Ringing in the ears that can be caused by very high doses of pain relievers, antimalarial medicines, or loop diuretics.

Somatosensory Impairment

An altered sense of touch, temperature, pain, or pressure that affects an individual's capability to process sensory information received by skin receptors.

Tactile Impairment

An impairment in the ability to accurately detect, distinguish, or interpret sensations received through the skin, such as touch, pressure, vibration, texture, and temperature.

Proprioceptive Impairment

An impairment in the ability to sense the position, movement, and orientation of one's body and limbs without relying on vision.

Sensory Processing Differences

An impairment in the ability to accurately perceive painful stimuli and distinguish their intensity.

Taste Impairment (Gustatory Impairment)

A sensory disability where a person has difficulty detecting, recognizing, or experiencing flavors.

Ageusia

Complete loss of the ability to taste.

Hypogeusia

Reduced ability to taste, where a person can still recognize flavors but with less intensity.

Dysgeusia

A distortion or change in taste perception where food may have an unpleasant, metallic, salty, or unusual taste.

Phantom Taste Perception

A condition where a person experiences a taste sensation even when there is no food or substance present.

Smell Impairment (Olfactory Impairment)

A condition in which a person has a reduced or absent sense of smell due to problems affecting the nose, olfactory nerves, or brain processing areas.

Anosmia

Complete loss of the sense of smell.

Hyposmia

Reduced ability to smell.

Parosmia

Distorted perception of smells, where familiar odors smell different.

Phantosmia

Smelling odors that are not actually present.

Dual Sensory Impairment

A condition in which a person has a combined impairment in two sensory systems, most commonly in vision and hearing.

Deafblindness

Refers to a child or person with both hearing and visual disabilities.

Congenital Deaf-blindness

A condition where a person is born with a hearing and sight impairment or develops both early in life.

Acquired Deaf-blindness

Deaf-blindness that develops later due to illness, injury, aging, or other factors, or after language has developed.