ABSTRACT
Deficits in socialisation and communication are the only overt clues to the level of handicap. Where little is expected of the hearing-impaired child the disability disappears to the casual observer. For the child the handicap remains. The hearing of a child may be damaged during the birth process as a result of trauma or anoxia. Developments in the technology of micro-electronics are increasingly becoming relevant to the needs of disabled people. This is especially important in hearing impairment where one of the distance sensory receptors is damaged. Delays which arise due to visual impairment could be due equally to mental handicap. The greatest risk is that mental handicap may be assumed incorrectly to be the cause, and that care givers will conclude that extra efforts to stimulate the child are pointless. Sensory handicap makes most formal psychometric intelligence quotient (IQ) tests difficult to use properly.
