VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 2
It can be difficult to determine whether a student's language and academic
deficits are due to ASD, hearing loss, vision loss, or a combination of both. These
students demonstrate a wide range of skills and abilities, and Teachers of the Deaf
(ToDs)/Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TSVI) often express frustration at their
lack of knowledge in teaching students with additional disabilities. There are
currently no evidence-based strategies specifically for students with hearing loss,
vision loss, and additional disabilities. Vision loss and hearing loss are both
sensory-impacting disabilities and can cause an array of communication and
functional abilities. Every child with a vision loss or hearing loss is unique in their
ability to hear, see, and manipulate the environment.
An additional disability such as ASD can contribute to a wide range of
cognitive, behavioral, and functional difficulties. Students with additional
disabilities tend to show deficits in language and communication (Guardino &
Cannon, 2016). Students with hearing loss and intellectual disabilities can
experience developmental delays that affect all learning areas (Bruce & Borders,
2015). Hearing loss is a language-impacting disability, as is ASD, meaning that if a
child has both hearing loss and ASD, they face two language-impacting
disabilities. Students who are DWD have varied receptive and expressive language
outcomes depending on the type of disability (Cupples et al., 2013; 2016).
Variability in language levels can make diagnosing an additional disability
