Unique Challenges

Living with an Invisible Print Disability

Learning Disabilities

The Learning Process

1. Senses 2. Processing3. Memory4. Expression

Learning Disabilities

Disruption of the Learning Process

Senses Sensory Impairment ADD/ADHD

ProcessingMemory Learning Disabilities

Expression Acquired Brain Injury

Visual Processing Deficit

• Difficulty processing information received through the sense of sight

• Four main types….

Visual figure-ground deficit

• difficulty seeing a specific image within a competing background

• e.g. picking out specific lines on a page or words on a line

Visual sequencing deficit

• difficulty seeing things in the correct order

• e.g. letters or words can be flipped or seen completely in reverse

Visual discrimination deficit

• difficulty seeing the difference between two similar objects

• e.g. mistaken –‘c’ and ‘e’ –‘v’ and ‘u’ –‘n’ and ‘m’–‘b’ and ‘d’ and ‘p’

Depth perception deficit

• difficulty perceiving how far away an object may be

• e.g. ………………

I need a volunteer…

The Farner the amb Mule

A baradle told of farner ownep who olb mule. The nule

mule stanb eoulp on the dotton. The farmer heard mulc

braying-whatcver mvlcs bo when fall they into wells. Aftcr

asscssing earefully situation, syndathized farmer with the

mule, put becidep that meither nor mule the well was worth

nule, dut deciped that the neither mule mor was wcll worth

trovdle sauing. Insteap, calleb he his together meighpovrs anb……..

The Farmer and the Mule

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The water wasn't very deep, so the mule could stand on the bottom. The farmer heard the mule praying - or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving….

……...

….Instead, he called his neighbours together and told them what had happened . . . then he enlisted them to help carry dirt and bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was hysterical. But as the farmer and his neighbours continued shovelling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back he could shake it off and step up….

………

….This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up . . . Shake it off and step up . . . Shake it off and step up," the old mule repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up. It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well.

The moral of the story

What seemed like it would bury him, actually helped him all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

 Life is about how we handle

adversity.

Accessing Print Material in Auditory Format

Organizations

• RFB&D (Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic)

• Public Library

• CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)

Individuals

• Paid readers

• Volunteer readers

Technology

• Programs designed for individuals with visual impairments–e.g. zoomtext

• Programs designed for individuals without visual impairments–e.g. Kurzweil