A Visual Dilemma
Steven Juarez
English 1311
03/9/11
Steven Juarez
English 1311
03/9/11
Americans are born with many disabilities every day. They will struggle as they progress through life trying to keep up with the rest of society who seems to be leaving them behind in the dust. There is help, but even so there are many obstacles they will face. One of the disabilities affecting many people is blindness or visual impairment. Imagine not being able to see anything at all, or to need special adaptive equipment to be able to keep up with classmates in school, but being unable to receive such equipment. Employment can be difficult when training materials are not in accessible formats or when there are no jobs that do not require mandatory use of full eyesight, such as at the cash register. There needs to be more help for these individuals in all walks of life. It is important to understand that, “Textual information is everywhere in our daily life and having access to it is essential for the blind to improve their autonomy.” (Mancas-Thillou, Ferreira, Demeyer, Minetti, & Gosselin 2007, p. 1) Persons with visual impairments or blindness face many obstacles in education, employment and in their own personal social life because there is a lack of an adequate system for providing assistive technology support and materials that can be downloaded or accessed by the provided technology.
When someone goes to the library, they might already know what book they want and in which section that book is located. They might then proceed to acquire the book and then continue about their business. Unfortunately, such a simple task is not so simple for someone who is blind or visually impaired. Such a person would have to ask a librarian for help with finding the book, usually having to explain that their eyesight is not good enough to locate the correct isle or even to use the numbers to find the book they want. Such a process might take hours because the disabled individual would have to use a magnifier to help them locate the book. This example illustrates how much visually impaired and blind persons depend on other people to fulfill their goals. With such dependence come difficulties and uncertainties as people might be unwilling to help or there are no people around to provide assistance. In school, disabled students face obstacles such as books not available in large print and the conversion of the material takes up more time and the student begins to fall behind. That is why, as mention in an article by de Freitas Alves, Monteiro, Rabello, Gasparetto, and de Carvalho (2009), there needs to be an efficient structured system designed to provide the necessary materials to students in order for them to stay on track with the other students.
Visually impaired students face some of the most difficult obstacles in early education because, as stated by de Freitas Alves, et al., (2009) “Including visually impaired students in schools requires special attention” (p. 149). The reason low vision students in school require so much special attention is because they have difficulties seeing what is on the board, sometimes even when seated at the front of the class, and there can occasionally be difficulties in getting the materials necessary in a format that can allow the student to operate on his or her own more effectively. The kinds of adaptive technology needed by visually impaired students are numerous. Large print books can be ordered by the school. When large print books are not available, books can be made into large print using photocopiers, a slow time consuming process. Magnifiers or Closed Circuit Televisions, CCTV’s can be used when none of the mentioned options is available. Many visually impaired and blind students can also request books on audio CD, but not all books are available in an audio format and it can take time to turn them into one. Special machines known as DAISY readers are required to read books on CD’s created by the organization known as Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic. One of the main problems faced in the education of young people with visual impairments is that there is no universal structured system for providing the help and technology required by these students. This also makes it hard on teachers. That is why there is also a need for an increase in better programs for the, “…personnel preparation of teachers of students with visual impairments…” (Gale, Trief, & Lengel, (2010), p. 700). As Gale et al. (2010) also state, “…little has been done to catalog and archive video clips that demonstrate best practices for novice teachers to model” (p. 700). A nation wide training program designed to produce teachers better able to deal with low vision students would go a long way to ensure a better learning environment for the student as well as the teacher.
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| Figure 1 |
Students need to be able to have access to assistive technology, especially computers (figure 1). It is important because, as stated by de Freitas Alves, et al., (2009), “Information technology allows individuals with visual impairment to overcome a major part of the difficulties in daily life and offers them independence and autonomy... just like their peers with normal vision.” (de Freitas Alves, et al., 2009, p. 149). Not all visually impaired students want to receive so much attention that it makes them feel different from their peers. It can feel embarrassing when a teacher needs to read what is on the board for the student. It is also difficult on the teacher, who might sometimes forget that they need to speak a loud what they are putting on the board. When there is a lack of technology, students start to depend heavily on the help of teachers and other students, who might not have the time or the patience to provide adequate assistance. There can be a sense that there is a lack of privacy. Though some might be able to suppress it or get used to it, it can still be there and may cause some distress. As attested by de Freitas Alves, et al. (2009), “...improving the students’ quality of life...and privacy” (p. (149), is possible by giving them the tools they need to operate with little assistance by other people.
Another area where visually impaired people face unusual difficulties is in employment. “A limited amount of information is available about the employment and postsecondary educational status of transition-age youths with visual impairments" (McDonnall, 2010, p. 298), this shows that there needs to be more focus on these individuals who have such difficulties being able to find jobs. It is alarming that, in this day and age where equality is a central belief in society, “Adults who are visually impaired continue to face problems in obtaining employment.” (Armstrong & Murray, 2010, p. 505)
In conclusion, more attention needs to be brought to the difficulties visually impaired people face in education, their place in society and their hardships in finding and keeping employment. When there is a better structure for students and teachers and when there are more materials available on more devices, visually impaired and blind people will be better able to keep up with their peers with better vision. Awareness of this problem will help people to act to better the lives of disabled persons and society as a whole.
References
Armstrong, H. L., & Murray, I. D. (2010). Adapting Advanced Information Technology Network Training for A dults with Visual Impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 104(8), 504-509. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
de Freitas Alves, C., Monteiro, G., Rabello, S., Gasparetto, M., & de Carvalho, K. (2009). Assistive technology applied to education of students with visual impairment. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 26(2), 148-152. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Gale, E., Trief, E., & Lengel, J. (2010). The Use of Video Analysis in a Personnel Preparation Program for Teachers of Students Who Are Visually Impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 104(11), 700-704. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Juarez, S (Photographer). (2011). Computer Monitor [Photograph]
Mancas-Thillou, C., Ferreira, S., Demeyer, J., Minetti, C., & Gosselin, B. (2007). A Multifunctional Reading Assistant for the Visually Impaired. EURASIP Journal on Image & Video Processing, 20071-11. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
McDonnall, M. (2010). The Employment and Postsecondary Educational Status of Transition Age Youths with Visual Impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 104(5), 298-303. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
