An investigation of preferences and choices of students with vision impairments on literacy medium for studying

Abstract

This article presents the outcomes of a national survey set in Greece examining the preferences and choices of students with vision impairments on literacy medium for studying. In brief, this study explored (a) the students’ preferences regarding literacy medium for studying, (b) the students’ opinions regarding the best performance medium for their studying, and (c) the relationship between the students’ literacy medium preferences and choices in terms of their age, type of vision loss, and onset of vision impairment. Seventy-five primary and secondary students with vision impairments participated in the study. Relevant data were obtained through questionnaires, and the results showed that braille and large print were the preferred mediums for studying regardless of gender, age, type of vision loss, and onset of blindness. Yet, the majority of the participants chose the medium of listening (‘aural reading’) as the best performance medium for their studying. The discussion highlights issues such as literacy skills, usage of technological advances, and teachers’ training and stresses the need for developing evidence-based practices and educational programmes through organized interdisciplinary teams and networks.

Keywords

Assistive technology braille crisis literacy medium primary and secondary education vision impairments

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abner

Lahm

(2002). Implementation of assistive technology with students who are visually impaired: Teachers’ readiness. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, 98–105.

American Foundation for the Blind. (2000). Educating blind and visually impaired students: Policy guidance from OSERS. Retrieved from http://www.afb.org/info/programs-and-services/public-policy-center/education-policy/educating-blind-and-visually-impaired-students–policy-guidance-from-osers/1235

American Printing House for the Blind. (2014). Annual report 2014: Distribution of eligible students based on the federal quota census of January 7, 2013 (Fiscal year 2014). Retrieved from http://www.aph.org/federal-quota/dist14.html

Argyropoulos

Paveli

Nikolaraizi

(2018). The role of DAISY digital talking books in the education of individuals with blindness: A pilot study. Education and Information Technologies, 24, 693–709.

Argyropoulos

Sideridis

Martos

Nikolaraizi

(2015). Auditory access and distinction of visual document elements by blind and sighted students. In Carmo

(Ed.), Proceedings of International Conference ‘Education and New Developments’ (pp. 214–218). Porto, Portugal: WIARS.

Argyropoulos

V. S.

Martos

C. A.

(2006). Braille literacy skills: An analysis of the concept of spelling. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100, 676–686.

Argyropoulos

V. S.

Sideridis

G. D.

Katsoulis

(2008). The impact of the perspectives of teachers and parents on the literacy media selections for independent study of students who are visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 102, 221–231.

Arter

(1997). Listening skills. In Mason

McCall

(Eds.), Visual impairment: Access to education for children and young people (pp. 143–148). London, England: David Fulton.

Basciftci

Eldem

(2016). An interactive and multi-functional refreshable Braille device for the visually impaired. Displays, 41, 33–41.

10.

Bell

E. C.

Ewell

J. V.

Mino

N. M.

(2013). National reading media assessment for youth with visual impairments: Research report. Retrieved from https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir13/jbir030201.html

11.

Brennan

S. A.

Luze

G. J.

Peterson

(2009). Parents’ perceptions of professional support for the emergent literacy of young children with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 103, 694–704.

12.

Burton

Snyder

A. Z.

Conturo

T. E.

Akbudak

Ollinger

J. M.

Raichle

M. E.

(2002). Adaptive changes in early and late blind: A fMRI study of Braille reading. Journal of Neurophysiology, 87, 589–607.

13.

Carey

(2016). The survival of Braille is in the balance (Speech given by Kevin Carey, Chair Royal National Institute of Blind People; Sixth General Assembly RCH1602 v1.0). International Council on English Braille. Baltimore, Maryland: National Federation of the Blind.

14.

Cooper

H. L.

Nichols

S. K.

(2007). Technology and early braille literacy: Using the Mountbatten Pro Brailler in primary-grade classrooms. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101, 22–31.

15.

Corn

A. L.

Koenig

A. J.

(2002). Literacy for students with low vision: A framework for delivering instruction. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, 305–321.

16.

D’Andrea

F. M.

(2012). Preferences and practices among students who read braille and use assistive technology. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 106, 585–596.

17.

Douglas

McCall

McLinden

Pavey

Ware

Farrell

A. M.

(2009). International review of the literature of evidence of best practice models and outcomes in the education of blind and visually impaired children. County Meath, Ireland: National Council for Special Education.

18.

Douglas

McLinden

(2005). Visual impairment. In Lewis

Norwich

(Eds.), Special teaching for special children? Pedagogies for inclusion (pp. 26–40). Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.

19.

Edmonds

C. J.

Pring

(2006). Generating inferences from written and spoken language: A comparison of children with visual impairment and children with sight. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 337–351.

20.

Erin

J. N.

Hong

Schoch

Kuo

(2006). Relationships among testing medium, test performance, and testing time of high school students who are visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100, 523–532.

21.

Field

M. J.

Jette

A. M.

(Eds.). (2007) Future of disability in America (pp. 183–221). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

22.

Gerber

(2003). The benefits of and barriers to computer use for individuals who are visually blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97, 523–532.

23.

Goudiras

D. B.

Papadopoulos

K. S.

Koutsoklenis

Papageorgiou

V. E.

Stergiou

M. S.

(2009). Factors affecting the reading media used by visually impaired adults. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 27, 111–127.

24.

Guerette

A. R.

(2014). Compensatory access. In Allman

C. B.

Lewis

Spungin

S. J.

(Eds.), ECC essentials: Teaching the expanded core curriculum to students with visual impairments (pp. 61–103). New York, NY: AFB Press.

25.

Hunsaker

R. A.

(1990). Understanding and developing the skills of oral communication: Speaking end listening (2nd ed.). Englewood, CO: J. Morton Press.

26.

Kamei-Hannan

Howe

Herrera

R. R.

Erin

J. N.

(2012). Perceptions of teachers of students with visual impairments regarding assistive technology: A follow-up study to a university course. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 106, 666–678.

27.

Kapperman

Sticken

(2000). Assistive technology. In Koenig

A. J.

Holbrook

M. C.

(Eds.), Foundations of education: Instructional strategies for vision rehabilitation: Vision rehabilitation (Vol. II, pp. 907–919). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

28.

Kapperman

Sticken

Heinze

(2002). Survey of the use of assistive technology by Illinois students who are visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment& Blindness, 96, 106–108.

29.

Keil

Clunies-Ross

(2002). Teaching Braille to children (Research Report). London, England: Royal National Institute of Blind People.

30.

Kelly

S. M.

(2009). Use of assistive technology by students with visual impairments: Findings from a national survey. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 103, 470–480.

31.

Kelly

S. M.

Smith

D. W.

(2011). The impact of assistive technology on the educational performance of students with visual impairments: A synthesis of the research. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 105, 73–83.

32.

Koenig

A. J.

Holbrook

M. C.

(2000). Literacy skills. In Koenig

A. J.

Holbrook

M. C.

(Eds.), Foundations of Education: Instructional Strategies for Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments (Vol. II, pp. 264–312). New York, NY: American Foundation for the Blind Press.

33.

Lee

Vega

L. A.

(2005). Perceived knowledge, attitudes, and challenges of AT use in special education. Journal of Special Education Technology, 20, 60–63.

34.

Likova

L. T.

Tyler

C. W.

Cacciamani

Mineff

Nicholas

(2016). The cortical network for Braille writing in the blind. IS&T International Symposium on Electronic Imaging. Retrieved from https://www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/global_calendar/events/is_t_international_symposium_on_electronic_imaging/

35.

Lusk

K. E.

Corn

A. L.

(2006). Learning and using print and braille: A study of dual-media learners, part 1. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100, 606–619.

36.

McLinden

Douglas

Cobb

Hewett

Ravenscroft

(2016). ‘Access to learning’ and ‘learning to access’: Analysing the distinctive role of specialist teachers of children and young people with vision impairments in facilitating curriculum access through an ecological systems theory. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 34, 179–197.

37.

National Federation for the Blind. (2009). The Braille literacy crisis in America (A Report to the Nation by the National Federation of the Blind), Jernigan Institute. Retrieved from https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/braille_literacy_report_web.pdf

38.

Postello

Barclay

L. A.

(2012). Elementary school: Developing and refining listening skills. In Barclay

L. A.

(Ed.), Learning to listen, listening to learn: Teaching listening skills to students with visual impairments (pp. 104–152). New York, NY: American Foundation for the Blind Press.

39.

Quick

(2010). Research points to full-screen Braille reading possibilities. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/full-screen-braille-display/14664/

40.

Ramadhan

A. J.

(2018). Wearable smart system for visually impaired people. Sensors, 18, 843.

41.

Romeo

(2003). Assistive technology opens door for those with disabilities. Central New York Business Journal, 17, 10–11.

42.

Rose

Dalton

(2006). Plato revisited: Learning through listening in the digital world (Unpublished white paper). Princeton, NJ: RFB&D.

43.

Ross

S. M.

Morrison

G. R.

Lowther

D. L.

(2010). Educational technology research past and present: Balancing rigor and relevance to impact school learning. Contemporary. Educational Technology, 1, 17–35.

44.

Rotolo

Hick

Martin

(2015). What is an emerging technology? Research Policy, 44, 1827–1843.

45.

Smith

D. W.

Kelley

P. A.

(2007). A survey of the integration of assistive technology knowledge into teacher preparation programs for individuals with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101, 429–433.

46.

Snow

C. E.

(1983). Literacy and language: Relationships during the preschool years. Harvard Educational Review, 53, 165–189.

47.

Spooner

(2014). ‘What page, miss?’ Enhancing text accessibility with DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System). Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 108, 201–211.

48.

Strobel

Fossa

Arthanat

Brace

(2006). Technology for access to text and graphics for people with visual impairments and blindness in vocational settings. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 24, 87–95.

49.

Tsiakali

T. K.

Argyropoulos

S. V.

(2015). An investigation of the perspectives of teachers on the literacy media selections for students with visual disability: The role of assistive technology. In Kouroupetroglou

(Ed.), Proceedings of International Conference on enabling access for persons with visual impairment (pp. 214–219). Groningen, The Netherlands: University of Groningen.

50.

Tsukada

Yasumrua

. (2004). ActiveBelt: Belt-type wearable tactile display for directional navigation. In: Davies

Mynatt

E. D.

Siio

(Eds.), Proceedings of UbiComp 2004: Ubiquitous Computing (pp. 384-399). Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3205. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.

51.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2009). People with visual impairment reading the world/the importance of ICT for visually impaired: Innovative programmes and projects. Retrieved from http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ict/Announcement_e-Newsletter/18Sep09.pdf

52.

Velázquez

(2010). Wearable assistive devices for the blind. In Lay-Ekuakille

Mukhopadhyay

S. C.

(Eds.), Wearable and autonomous biomedical devices and systems for smart environment: Issues and characterization (pp. 331–349). New York, NY: Springer (LNEE 75).

53.

Velazquez

Bazan

Magaña

(2009). A shoe-integrated tactile display for directional navigation. In Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (pp. 1235–1240). New York, NY: IEEE.

54.

Virgili

Acosta

Grover

Bentley

Giacomelli

(2013). Reading aids for adults with low vision. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10, CD003303.

55.

World Health Organization. (2003). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (10th revision, Chapter VII H54 Blindness and low vision) Retrieved from http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/

56.

Zainora

Rokiah

(2011). A Comparison of reading performance between visually impaired and normally sighted students in Malaysia. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 29, 196–207.

57.

Zhou

Griffin-Shirley

Kelley

Banda

D. R.

Lan

W. Y.

Parker

A. T.

Smith

D. W.

(2012). The relationship between computer and internet use and performance on standardized tests by secondary school students with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 106, 609–621.

58.

Zhou

Parker

A. T.

Smith

D. W.

Griffin-Shirley

(2011). Assistive technology for students with visual impairments: Challenges and needs in teachers’ preparation programs and practice. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 105, 197–210.