Hearing losses may be temporary or permanent. Temporary hearing losses are usually caused by the condition known as ' glue ear ' and occur most often in the early years. Such hearing losses fluctuate and may be mild or moderate in degree. They can seriously compound other learning difficulties. Schools should be alert to such evidence as persistently discharging ears.
Visual difficulties take many forms with widely differing implications for a child's education.
They range from relatively minor and remediable conditions to total blindness. Some children are born blind others lose their sight, partially or completely, as a res ult of accidents or illness. In some cases visual impairment is one aspect of multiple disability . Whatever the cause of the child's visual impairment, the major issue in identifying and assessing the child's special educational needs will relate to the degree and nature of functional vision, partial sight or blindness, and the child's ability to adapt socially and psychologically as well as to progress in an educational context. Although most speech and language difficulties will have been identified before a child reaches school, some children will still have significant speech and language difficulties which impair their ability to participate in the classroom by the time they start school.