Abstract

This work is titled “society’s attitude and its impact towards the education of persons with visual impairment” the study was aimed generally to find out how society’s attitude influence the provision of technological tools for the education of the visually impaired, to examine the attitude that the society holds in employing persons with visual impairment and to access society’s attitude if it affects the education of persons with visual impairment.

A sample of 70 students was selected from an accessible population of 22,645 students from 3 selected schools and the society’s view on the education of persons with visual impairment.   The questionnaire was made up of 30 items, and student’s opinions were sampled to determine the society’s attitude towards the education of the visually impaired.

The descriptive statistics method was used to analyze the data collection from respondents and this was done by the aid of the percentage count method. The main finding of this study reveals that society’s attitude has a significant impact on providing technological tools, employing and educating persons with visual impairment.

Based on these findings, some recommendations were made to school administrators, schools, teachers, and laymen in the society, which the researcher hopes that when taken into consideration will go a long way to improve the society’s attitude in associating in the education of the visually impaired.

Finally, some suggestions were made for further studies to be carried out in similar situations deemed necessary.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Visual impairment is when one is unable to use his/her sight and rely on other senses like touch, smell, hearing, taste; it ranges from mild to severe within the range are those who are blind and partial sighted or low/vision. There are various attitudes that society has towards persons with visual impairment with regards to their education these attitudes could be positive or negative attitudes.

Society has a positive attitude by including them in inclusive schools and a negative attitude either by removing them from school by not providing technological tools that will aid them in studying. According to Hardeep and Andrea McCarthy (2014), persons with visual impairment continue to face challenges in many areas of their lives and many of these challenges involve people’s attitudes towards them.

This research focuses on exploring the kind of attitude the society holds towards persons with visual impairment, to see if the society’s attitude will affect the education of the visually impaired, and also providing Technological tools and employing them at the end of studying.

Background Of The Study

The orange Foundation organized a seminar to train 15 teachers from 14 specialized schools. The program addressed their needs in specific areas such as integral Braille, mathematical and arithmetical Braille, and Braille instruction methods.

In September 2010, the foundation distributed school materials to the pupils of ten schools, including a school bag, a slate, and a stylus, a white cane, and a gift of 10.000 CFA to cover additional schooling costs, we also donated specialized calculators, Braille papers, Braille books, cubarithms, arithmetic cubes, etc.

The foundation carried out renovation work at three institutions: the CISPAM School for the blind and partially sighted (In Bafoussam), the Baptist Integration School for the rehabilitation of the visually impaired (Garoua). “This course shattered the myth claiming that the visually impaired cannot follow in sciences”. Chancellor Pokam teacher at the Bamenda Nkwe Bilingual High School, in the Northwest of Cameroon. He has always tried to help visually impaired pupils have a fulfilling school experience.

In 2000, he retrained in Braille transcription then worked as a tutor at the CAFJAB center for young blind people in Bafang. In August 2010, he took part in a seminar training teachers of blind and partially sighted pupils. He chose the courses. Including integral Braille, mathematical Braille, and teaching method- best suited to his class. Chancellor is particularly pleased to have worked on the Antione notation (an adaptation of the Braille alphabet to mathematics) he is now more persuaded than ever that visually impaired kids can study science, despite their disability. What’s required, he says, is to constantly train teachers in new tools and new methods.

A survey of employers in the USA, Restricted Access, was carried out to explore attitudes and employment (Dixon et al, 2003) one quarter of employers surveyed said they employed at least one worker with a disability. The study demonstrated that all through many employers are willing to hire people with disabilities, misconceptions regarding hiring and accommodation abound.

Employers gave diverse opinions as to why so few people with disabilities were hired. These include discrimination against workers with disabilities, employed reluctance, lack of experience on the part of the job seekers, and lack of physical accessibility.

While employers express varying degrees of reluctance and concern regarding the hiring and accommodation of people with disabilities including discomfort, unfamiliarity, belief that the nature of the work they do is such that people with disabilities cannot perform it effectively and fear of the cost of accommodation. Less than half (40%) of employers surveyed provided training of any kind to their employees regarding working with or providing accommodation to people with disabilities (Dixon et al, 2003).

In research done by the Scottish Executive in 2005 the decision to employ a person with a disability was influence by several factors including the professionalism of the supported employment service predisposition of the company, difficulties with filling specific posts; labour shortages; putting the business case that employer would gain reliably motivated and consistent worker etc (the Scottish Executive, 2005).

Attitudes are directly influenced through questioning personal experience and positive or negative reinforcement (Fossey, 1993, sdorow, 1990, cited by E by et al 1998). The role of direct experience may be particularly important in attitude formation. The positive effect of contact has been demonstrated in many domains. Including attitudes toward the elderly, psychiatric patients, and children with disabilities (Hewstone, 2003 citing Hewstone, 1996; Pettigrew 1998 and Pettigrew et al 2000. attitude form through indirect experience.

The superior predictive power of attitudes formed through indirect experience is not necessarily a function of the amount of information about the attitude object available to the individual (Fazio et al, 1978 cited by E by et al, 1998). Direct experience may affect the attitude formation process by altering the way in which available information is processed.

During the past 40 to 50 years there have been numerous changes in our society with respect to the management and treatment of people with disabilities in addition there have been many advancements in medical care.

As a result, most of these individuals reside in the community rather than institutions and depend upon community-based private practitioners for oral health care. Visual impairment is also known as vision impairment or vision loss is a decreased ability to see to a degree that causes problems not fixable by usual means as glasses, some also include those who have a decreased ability to see because they do not have access to glasses or contact lenses. Visual impairment is often defined as the best-corrected visual acuity of worse than either 20/40. The vision is used for complete or nearly complete vision loss.

Visual impairment may cause people difficulties with normal daily activities such as driving, reading, socializing, and walking. The most common cause of visual impairment globally are uncorrected refractive errors (43%) and glaucoma (2%), refractive errors include near sighted, farsighted, presbyopia, and astigmatism.

Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness other causes include age-related macular degeneration diabetic retinopathy, corneal clouding childhood blindness, and a number of infections it’s also caused by problems in the brain due to stock, prematurity, or trauma among others.

The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of visual impairment is either preventable or curable with treatment (World Health Organization, retrieved 23 May 2015). According to Michael et al (2002), schools exist to promote literacy, personal autonomy, economic self-sufficiency, personal fulfillment, and citizenship.

These schools must prepare all students to be academically and Education has become in physically capable to gain knowledge and apply what they learn in order to be productive workers and citizens but also those who might be weak in one aspect or the other.

Our world a very important tool for development UNESCO (1994p,i-iv). In its major role in addressing educational issues; UNESCO insisted on special isolation. It forms a part of an overall educational strategy and indeed new social and economic policies.

Tchombe (2008) holds that education is a crucial factor in social and personal development and an indispensable asset in the attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom, and justice. That education is one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby reduce poverty and exclusion; this is because they are the majority of those suffering from rejection and abandonment.

This will be effective if educating persons with visual impairment become the heartbeat of every nation. For the education of persons with visual impairment to be effective it requires a partnership between the society and the institution, home and institution, hospitals and institutions.

That is, a multidisciplinary team where each person performs or is aware of his/her role and is committed to it (Nweazouke, 2008). These persons with visual impairment require a lot for them to achieve greatness in their education thus it is relevant for the society to be involved so as to play their part to affect the education of these persons with visual impairment and also providing what they need.

In June 1994 a meeting was held at the Salamance Spain, concerning persons with disabilities, which was a follow-up conference to what took place at Jomtien Thailand in 1990 participants from different countries in the world were called upon to consider fundamental policy shift necessary for structuring inclusive education (inclusive education is a concept stipulating that all children disabled or not should study in the same environment).

It grew following the realization that regular schools with an inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building on inclusive society, and achieving education for all (UNESCO 1994). According to (Kinder, 1999) not all blind people are totally blind.

Legal blindness is at least 20/200 corrected vision in both eyes and a restricted field of vision of at least 20 degrees. A person who has 20/70 to 20/200 visions, however, is also visually impaired. The unemployment rate for people who are blind is about 70%. (NFB, video, 1993, American foundation for the blind 1996). The majority of blind people who are employed are those who are Braille literate (NFB video, 1993).

Teachers were known to tell parents that a child with low vision is not “really blind” and the child should just concentrate on large print because Braille was outdated and too difficult to learn (NFB video 1993) parent will often follow the teacher’s advice wanting to believe the child is not blind.

What most often resulted because of these attitudes toward blindness and Braille were blind children who grew up to be either functionally illiterate or unable to read any medium with decreasing vision (Januzzi, 1999, NFB video, 1993). This is not to say that the adults were intentionally wanting to harm the children’s preconceptions and hence attitudes, however, affect our actions and those actions have an impact on the children.

In the last decades, the organizations of the blind and other advocates have worked to change this trend to insist on Braille instruction for children who are visually impaired, particularly if the condition causing blindness could further reduce vision.

Advocates also Braille publishers and transcription services are producing more titles and more backs overall. (Braille revival league, 1999).If people believe that it is ok to be blind, then they will better accept Braille as an alternative mode of reading and writing and potentially increase literacy among blind children and adults.

Visual impairment has been considered one of the most threatening disabilities typically awakening emotional reactions of extreme loss of confidence and independence in individuals confronted with this disability. General education teachers have identified students with visual impairment as the students they would least want to have in their classroom (Horne, 1983).

Statement Of The Problem

There are various attitudes posed by society towards the education of persons with visual impairment. It is very important for the society to have a good attitude on the education of persons with visual impairment by providing technological tools for them, and also employing them after schooling: and so it is important for teachers, parents, friends to know the overall impact in participating and being involved in educating them.

Determining the long-lasting effect of education on persons with visual impairment may help teachers, parents, as well as children with visual impairment also know their importance in society as a whole.

Purpose Of The Study

General objective

The study is aimed at ensuring access and full participation in education for all children and young people with visual impairment.

Specific objectives

1. To find out how society’s attitude influence the provision of technological tools for the education of the visually impaired
2. To examine the attitude that the society holds in employing persons with visual impairment
3. To access society’s attitude if it affects the education of persons with visual impairment?