Children with Visual Impairments

Social Interaction, Language and Learning

Joao Roe, Alec Webster

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN:
  9780415148153
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134753581
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book is aimed at the mainstream class teacher who has little or no experience of providing effective learning experiences for children with visual impairments. It is designed both as an introductory guide to assessment and provision. It also has a strong focus on social interactions, since many teachers are confused as how to help children with visual impairments make friends. The book sets out the basis for addressing the individual with a wide range of visual impairments. Chapters cover: the identification and assessment of aspects of vision visual impairment and individual needs practical advice on the development of concepts, language and literacy and social skills the use of low vision aids, appropriate decor and physical layouts, lighting and IT educational policy and the Code of Practice Drawing on very recent research, this book presents new insights into the needs of children with visual impairments as learners, arguing that it is the quality of the child's social interactions which promotes play, language and learning.

1 INTRODUCTION: VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

This introductory chapter sets out how we have approached the individual learning needs of children with visual impairments, and emphasises, wherever feasible, a research basis for intervention. We explore contrasting images of children with visual impairments, highlighting unique differences in the way in which individuals adapt to their experience in contrasting contexts. To some extent these images are reflected in changes in policy and legislation over time, moving from the ‘deficit’ models that informed earlier provision to more recent concerns with the personal goals that underpin ‘lifetime learning’. Throughout the text, practical advice is shaped by the framework of the Code of Practice for SEN as it is currently being implemented in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

We have been careful not to locate all of the factors that influence learning within children themselves, and we have tried to steer away from comparisons between ‘sighted’ and ‘visually impaired’ groups. In any case, the major variables that adults, particularly teachers, control are the conditions within which learning takes place, and the transactions that support the child’s adaptive efforts to make sense of the world. A small sample of case studies illustrates the range of individual differences encountered in children with visual impairments, in terms of ability, learning style, persistence, motivation, adaptivity and resilience. However, we need to look at the strategies adopted by adults and the culture of teaching environments in order to find ways of optimising learning. Recent research evidence, introduced briefly here, probes key aspects of interpersonal contexts, such as the scaffolding of interactions between adults and children, and the processes that promote independent control of learning in children with significant hurdles to surmount.

This book is about the impact of visual impairment on the development and education of young children. In many ways this book is also about difference. We are all different in terms of age, gender, origin, ability and experience. We have many differences and from these we form our identities and our individualities.

A child or young person with a visual impairment is first and foremost an individual. Parents and teachers of children with a visual impairment gather abundant evidence from everyday encounters and events that supports this. A 4 year old attempts to uncover the rules of a game of hide-and-seek that his older siblings have involved him in. A 6 year old is helping a friend to program a computerised robot given as a Christmas present, which requires keying in codes to produce different manoeuvres, sounds and actions. A 10 year old interrogates her mother on the metaphor of ‘rock bottom prices’ as she waits at the checkout of a supermarket. Children from early infancy onwards act on the world and make sense of it in the complex social environments in which they live, play and learn. The fact that all of the children mentioned above are adapting to the presence of a visual impairment obviously impinges upon, but does not arrest, the momentum to construct meanings, to sustain social contacts, to discover rules and relationships, to make sense of the world and how it works.

A SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

We do not believe that a special psychology is required (or would be helpful) to understand the development or individual learning needs of children with visual impairments. We do not find it fruitful to address issues such as whether blind children, or those with impaired vision, have special characteristics or follow a distinct developmental path. Neither do we believe that visual impairments simply result in a series of developmental, intellectual or linguistic delays in children’s growth to maturity. Therefore children with impaired vision cannot simply be considered in terms of the normal developmental milestones achieved by all other children, but with well-defined gaps in some areas of experience and maturation. Instead we shall be highlighting the ways in which, for individual children, there are different routes and styles of development: no two children learn in the same way. In our view each child’s developmental profile is uniquely determined by a complex interplay of factors that a visual impairment influences, including:

• individual differences in ability, learning style, persistence and motivation
• sensitivity to a range of cue and information sources in social and learning environments, including use of residual vision
• patterns of interaction established with parents or carers, siblings, adults and peers
• resources of adaptivity and resilience
• learning conditions, including the ability of adults to act contingently and flexibly
• school curriculum, in particular issues of differentiation, guided participation and independent learning

In discussing people with visual impairments we are concerned with an extremely diverse range of individuals with different types and degrees ofvisual loss, all of whom have responded and adapted to their experiences in unique ways. Visual impairment of any degree interacts in an unpredictable and often uncharted way with many other factors that serve to differentiate individuals from one another, such as confidence, resilience, determination, specific abilities or areas of immaturity, the particular social and cultural circumstances of the family, in addition to contacts with different parents, carers, teachers and schools.

So this is a text concerned with the richness and diversity of individual experience, the multi-form qualities of interpersonal, linguistic and intellectual encounters during the formative periods of childhood and schooling, as children face the wide range of adaptive tasks and situations associated with learning and growing up. In our view a visual impairment tests out the flexibility and adaptivity of children, their families and teachers, over the already somewhat hazardous course of parenting, growth to maturity and independence. These points are often unheeded and can lead to much misunderstanding and confusion when children are gathered together on the basis of medical or legal categories (such as ‘blind’ or ‘partially sighted’) for the purpose of making educational provision, interpreting research evidence, or handing over advice to families and teachers.

IMAGES OF CHILDREN WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

In this book we shall be arguing the case that the development and learning of children and young people with visual impairments is best understood in terms of the social environments in which individuals find themselves and the quality of interpersonal encounters that arise therein. We take as read that the social contexts of home and school are complex for all children, and that we must focus on children’s everyday attempts to cope with these environments. Furthermore, one fundamental shift in our thinking in relation to special educational needs, referred to, for example, in the chapter by Webster (1992), concerns how adult perceptions of a sensory handicap influence attitudes and behaviour. A common view is that children with visual impairments can be understood only in terms of what they lack or ‘cannot do’ in comparison with fully sighted children. This comparative approach assumes a Visual impairment as deficit’ model, in which any discrepancies revealed between the two groups are attributed to the sensory impairment and are thus located within the child.

Deficit models in special education have informed much of government policy and legislation until very recently. Prior to the report of the Warnock Committee (DES, 1978) and the ensuing 1981 Education Act that implemented its recommendations, special education was defined in relation to categories of disability. For example, labels such as ‘maladjusted’, ‘deaf’, ‘ESN(S)’, ‘blind’ or ‘partially sighted’ were applied to children and used to determine the kinds of educational provision that were required. Special education, tomany people, was synonymous with special schools or classes. An inherent danger of this approach is that the nomenclature used to label or classify children colours expectations and attitudes. For example, if it is generally believed that a severe visual impairment precludes children from achieving academic success, participating socially with peers and achieving personal independence, then adult expectations may be lowered, fewer opportunities created or challenges offered. This would apply to all individuals who suffer under such labels, since they carry with them self-limiting properties, no matter how determined or competent a child happens to be. The child becomes, and is perceived in terms of, the handicapping condition.

A positive perspective

We mention the Warnock Report and the 1981 Education Act at this point because, in many respects, the new Code of Practice has returned to pick up many of the issues that were raised by this earlier policy and legislation but never fully implemented. In Chapter 4 we shall be revisiting these important issues in some detail, such as early intervention; Partnership with parents or carers; positive terminology and concepts of special education; pupil entitlements; the relative nature of special needs; the continuum of special needs’ provision; how professional agencies collaborate; integration and inclusion; and a shift from notions of disability towards individual requirements for maximising learning.

An alternative model to the deficit view, and one that has gained increasing support from research, stems from evidence that differences between individuals facing similar obstacles to development, such as a visual or hearing loss, are just as great as those found between contrasting groups. Accounting for differential rates of progress often highlights salient factors in contrasting environments, rather than within children. Any learning difficulties encountered do not, de facto, reside wholly within the child, nor should they be considered as inevitable consequences of a visual disability. (For a detailed consideration of this view, see Warren, 1994.)

Once we start to think of a visual impairment, or any other facet of individual functioning, as Part of a continuum of human differentiation, it then becomes apparent that some of the developmental difficulties observed in children are in fact caused by the strategies adopted by adults or by the limiting conditions found in certain environments. Drawing on some very recent research carried out by the authors, which has explored these images and assumptions of youngsters with visual impairments, the book aims to help families, teachers and other professional groups towards new insights into the needs of children with visual impairments as learners. We examine the research basis for believing that the long-term course of a child’s development can be affected by improving aspects of the learning environment in the early years and through the period of schooling.

THE CODE OF PRACTICE AND CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

In this book we shall be mainly addressing class and subject teachers who may have no special qualifications or experience in working with children with special educational needs. The sections of the text that provide basic information about the functioning of the eye, identification and treatment of ophthalmic conditions, and how vision is implicated in children’s learning and development, provide a general introduction for those new to the field.

The Code of Practice for children with special educational needs came into force on September 1st 1994. From that date onwards all schools have been obliged to pay due regard to the Code, which identifies new roles and responsibilities for all teachers in relation to meeting the individual needs of children in the mainstream school context. The framework of the Code of Practice and its related Circular 6/94 set out the agenda for schools in the foreseeable future, shaping policy and provision for identifying, assessing and drawing up plans for pupils with special educational needs, within a number of clearly defined stages. Responding to criticisms made of the way in which procedures under the 1981 Education Act were being followed by most LEAs, the new Code intends to focus on increasing accountability; improving the quality and consistency of support offered to families and children; shorter timescales for carrying out assessments and making decisions; widening parental choice; more careful planning and evaluation of pupil progress and the effectiveness of SEN provision; greater involvement of pupils themselves in negotiating learning routes; and the much more central involvement of all mainstream teachers and staff in designing flexible learning environments across the curriculum for pupils with special needs.

In Chapter 4, where we deal with the issues of educational policy and provision in some detail, we shall be casting a critical eye over the Code of Practice and its implications for pupils of varying ages with visual impairments in different phases of the education system. Although the majority of the children who are the subject of this book will have clearly identified needs, it is still the case that non-specialist teachers shoulder the major load of making day-to-day provision for children in mainstream settings. The last few years has also seen a gradual diminution in the level of LEA resourcing for support services to schools, such as visiting teachers of the sensory impaired, educational psychologists and generic SEN support teams. This move towards inclusion of children with visual impairments in ordinary school settings—as indeed for a whole range of special educational needs—is set to continue. The wider sharing of good practice, such as strategies for differentiating the curriculum, is upheld by the Code of Practice as the major component of SEN provision. It is still the case, however, that detailed knowledge of the needs of children with visual impairments rests with the expert few.

Promoting achievement

This book will be invaluable in enabling non-specialist teachers to implement their new responsibilities under the Code of Practice, to understand ways in which learning can be promoted, and to design more effective learning environments for children with visual impairments. We have included a wide range of tried and tested strategies appropriate to mainstream school contexts, including use of low vision aids, appropriate decor and physical layouts, lighting conditions and equipment, and relevant information technology. Promoting curriculum access through differentiating modes of presentation, ways of working and learning outcomes will enable all pupils to Participate more effectively. In this sense, what is considered to be good practice for pupils with visual impairments will also promote more effective learning for other pupils. Parents and family advisers should all find the book rich in practical advice.

The Code of Practice has a great deal to say about how agencies can work in Partnership in order to empower families and youngsters themselves. There can be few misgivings in anybody’s mind about the importance of all individuals, whatever their needs, capitalising on their full potential, acquiring a wide range of competencies, being positively orientated to the changing world of work, and achieving independence and control over their own lives.

The book seeks ways in which all parents, carers and professionals can work together with youngsters to find optimal environments for learning, in other words where the pace of learning is determined more by what an individual can achieve with the help of responsive, facilitating adults, together with appropriate equipment and technology, rather than by the notional limits imposed by a sensory impairment or the narrow expectations of a stereotype.

LIFETIME LEARNING

A relatively unfamiliar concept to many educationists is the concept of ‘lifetime’ or ‘lifelong’ learning, which has recently been brought to prominence with the tactical merger of education and employment dePartments during the summer of 1995. Lifetime learning is a concept that underpins the DFEE’s objectives in terms of the continuum of education and training that society provides, of which schools form a central but not exclusive Part. Such a continuum of learning opportunities, from nursery to post-compulsory school age and thereby onto employment, is meant to provide a context in which all individuals can gain, refresh and update relevant skills to meet changing societal demands and economic circumstances.

At one end of the scale, lifetime learning aims to improve the nation’s competitiveness by increasing access to a diversity of educational opportunities that extend beyond school, and which are recognised through a wider range of technical, academic and vocationally relevant qualifications. At the other end of the scale, lifetime learning is about setting personal, social, academic and vocational goals that are relevant, appropriate, challenging and meaningful to the individuals concerned. One of the main reasons for supporting the intentions that underpin the Code of Practice and the new initiative of lifetime learning is because it brings an opportunity to address the central issue of what learning is for—the raising of individual achievement through good quality learning experiences—and the wider question of how schools can become more effective communities for learning. These new emphases would require nothing less than a seachange in some school contexts to be even Partially implemented. However, they do reflect an educational climate in which school effectiveness and the raising of individual achievement have both political and popular currency.

Plate 1.1 A blind child using a hoople to navigate along a school corridor. Lifelong learning means equipping children with skills for personal effectiveness, flexibility and autonomy. Although mobility for many children with visual impairments is synonymous with independence, it is also important for exploration and related conceptual growth

Personal action plans

For individuals with learning needs that are special in some way, the notion of lifetime learning has profound implications. It is a concept that embraces such important areas as personal effectiveness, independence, self-direction, transferable skills, flexibility, vocational awareness and entrepreneurship. It is about investing in people’s potential to help themselves. It stresses taking every individual forward, in areas of development that have personal significance, whatever the starting points. Crucially, it is a process of handing over responsibility for learning to individuals themselves. These issues are realised in transactions such as personal action planning with pupils. Under the Code of Practice, the drawing up of individual long-term education plans and shorter-term teaching programmes provides important opportunities for engaging pupils in thinking about their own learning styles and curriculum needs. Plans drawn up with pupils whose needs are ‘Statemented’ under the 1993 Education Act should also include, at each review following a young persons fourteenth birthday, arrangements for transition into adulthood, further training or education, and the world of work.

In Chapter 4 we shall be dealing with the details of how these issues should be managed, who should be involved, and what should be the main focus of consideration. However, at this stage it is worth noting that a context of policy and professional practice is emerging whereby individual learning needs are negotiated and planned for the lifespan. Schooling lays important foundations in helping individuals to achieve their full academic potential, but as the term itself implies, lifetime learning requires schools to equip children with a wide range of person...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• LIST OF PLATES
• LIST OF FIGURES
• LIST OF TABLES
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• 1 INTRODUCTION: VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
• 2: VISION AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
• 3: DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES AND THE IMPACT OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
• 4: EDUCATIONAL POLICY, PROVISION AND THE CODE OF PRACTICE
• 5: ENHANCING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
• 6: RESEARCHING SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS
• APPENDIX: FURTHER INFORMATION SOURCES
• GLOSSARY
• REFERENCES