Disability of the five senses (smell, sight, taste, hearing, and touch) is known as sensory disability and is a common term used to describe hearing impairment, touch impairment, deafness, deafblindness, visual impairment, and taste impairment.
According to health experts, the most common type of sensory disability is taste impairment.
Sensory impairments are often genetic. They can also be caused by an infection or an injury.
Deafblindness is a sensory disability term often used to describe the loss of hearing and sight for an individual and is oftentimes seen in older adults who suffer from dementia.
What are the Effects of Sensory Disabilities on the Affected Individuals?
Sensory disabilities substantially affect an individual’s access to auditory and/or visual information. Sensory disabilities are most common in older adults and are more likely to affect their physical health and quality of life. According to a 2009 study, 1 in every 6 children suffers from a sensory disability that gets in the way of their learning ability and day-to-day functioning.
According to research, older adults with vision loss are more likely to suffer from depression.
Numerous studies have proved that one-third of elderly individuals who have visual impairment experience clinically significant depressive symptoms, low self-efficiency, small social network, and an increased feeling of loneliness
In younger individuals, sensory disabilities can affect a child’s ability to perform his/her daily activities and also limit their learning ability by negatively impacting their school performance.
What are the Different Types of Sensory Disabilities?
Sensory disabilities can be divided into the following types:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Blindness and Low Vision
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Hearing Loss and Deafness
1. Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism spectrum disorder is a multiplex development condition that necessitates persevering challenges in non-verbal or verbal communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors. The symptoms of ASD vary from person to person. Being a lifelong developmental disability, Autism spectrum disorder affects the way an individual interacts with those around him.
Approximately 2.21% of adults in the United States have Autism Spectrum Disorder. Whereas boys are four times more likely to have ASD than girls.
According to a report by CDC, 1 in 54 children is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Individuals with ASD have a severe sensitivity to noise, touch, light, or any sensory experiences.
They also have difficulties in communication and social interactions. Autism spectrum disorder may be caused due to genetics or environmental factors. Health experts found that certain children recover from ASD. However, certain concerns might remain and the majority of the recovered youngsters face health concerns that require additional educational and therapeutic support.
2. Blindness or Low Vision
According to Vision Australia, “an individual is considered legally blind if they cannot see at six meters what someone with normal vision can see at 60 meters or if their field of vision is less than 20 degrees in diameter.”
An individual with low vision suffers from permanent vision loss which can disrupt their day-to-day activities and if their sight cannot improve with glasses.
Several diseases, accidents, or conditions can lead to blindness or low vision, sometimes it occurs at birth while other times blindness or low vision can occur later in life.
The causes of vision loss include but are not limited to eye defects, macular degeneration, eye injury, cataracts, diabetes, tumors, or glaucoma. Individuals older than 65 years of age are also more likely to develop vision loss.
3. Hearing Loss or Deafness
Hearing loss or hearing impairment refers to the partial or total loss of hearing sounds. The term ‘deaf’ can be used to address an individual who suffers from partial or total hearing loss.
Symptoms of hearing loss might be moderate, mild, profound, or severe. Individuals with hearing impairment or deafness might use sign language or rely on lip-reading to communicate with those around them.
Hearing loss can be caused by damage to the external, middle, or inner ear. Hearing loss can range from mild to profound. Some other causes of hearing loss include, but are not limited to deafness can be due to extreme exposure to noise, trauma, or damage to the cochlear nerve.
4. Sensory Processing Disorder
An individual with sensory processing disorder has difficulty responding to and receiving information that is received through their senses. Sensory processing disorder is also referred to as sensory integration dysfunction.
Such individuals misapprehend everyday information such as movement, touch, or sound. Their brain analyses and uncannily perceives everyday information. While affecting single or multiple senses at once. According to STAR Institute, the various subtypes of sensory processing disorder include:
Pattern 1: Sensory Modulation Disorder.
Pattern 2: Sensory-Based Motor Disorder.
Pattern 3: Sensory Discrimination Disorder.
Individuals with sensory processing development might find common sounds to be profuse or excruciating. Also, they might find certain textures or touches on their skin to be extensively uncomfortable or agitating.
In short, individuals with sensory processing disorders are usually very sensitive to their environment.
Can Sensory Disabilities Be Treated?
Sensory disabilities cannot be cured. However, health professionals often target the symptoms of sensory disabilities during the treatment procedure of the diagnosed condition. Sensory disabilities might get less intense with age.
Whereas oftentimes, the affected individual might learn to cope with his/her condition.
While there is no available standard treatment for sensory disabilities, health professionals have adopted certain viable options as modes of treatment against sensory disabilities, which include:
- Sensory Integration Therapy
- Occupation Therapy
- Physical Therapy
Service Dogs or Emotional Support Animal for Individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder
How will purchasing a service dog or emotional support animal help your child or any loved one in your life with their sensory processing disorder?
According to ADA National Network, service dogs are specially trained to fulfill the needs of individuals with disabilities that they have difficulty completing on their own.
Being specifically trained for their owners, service dogs, or emotional support animals can aid individuals with their day-to-day activities such as retrieving back items, offering guidance to an individual with deafness or blindness, providing emotional support and stability.
Service dogs can also help detect the onset of a seizure for those who suffer from recurring seizures and they can also help prevent falls or unstable walking for individuals with limited mobility.
Other than being kind and hard-working, Emotional support animals or service dogs, also provide individuals who have any kind of sensory processing disorder with a friend, a consistent care system, and a sense of security. Adopting a service dog or an emotional support animal can be a life-changing experience for individuals with disabilities.