Page 2 - LESSION 22.pmd

Early Identification and Intervention

appropriate activities which are desired by society. The International Classification
of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY)
defined disability as, “neither purely biological nor social but instead the interaction
Notes
between health conditions, environmental and personal factors.” It described
disability at three levels:

• an impairment in body function or structure, such as a cataract which prevents
the passage of light and sensing of form, shape, and size of visual stimuli;
• a limitation in activity, such as the inability to read or move around;

• a restriction in participation, such as exclusion from school.

The term, children with disabilities, is used to refer to the children with disabling
health conditions or impairment or as a result of illness, poor nutrition or injury.

22.1.1 THE MAJOR DISABILITIES

In our community we see people around who cannot walk or have some body
part deformed; have difficulty in seeing or hearing; have difficulty in understanding
or learning. These people are suffering from some impairment and are having
disability. There is a range of disabilities as defined by different models. The
major are listed below.

Sensory impairment: Any condition which implies a loss or impairment of the
sensory organs such as hearing, vision, speech and olfactory senses. While a
majority of such conditions can be treated and rehabilitated, some conditions
persist lifelong and might require therapy and constant support.

Developmental disabilities: These are diverse group of chronic conditions which
are due to mental or physical impairment. This may include delayed or abnormal
development. The conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy,
Down syndrome and Asperger Syndrome falls under this.

Learning disability: This refers to an impairment of cognitive abilities that
manifests as a certain type of learning-related disability. These differ from child to
child, based on the particular cognitive function that is affected like:

• input (difficulty processing visual information)

• difficulty in processing audio or lingual information
• integration (putting together the information and making sense of it)

• storage (memory-related)

• output (having trouble expressing the information)

The biggest challenge with learning disability is that they are harder to identify
and diagnose.

Behavioural issues: Children with behavioural issues may experience difficulty
in responding to the regular forms of care and discipline that works with other
220 EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION