Carmen Willings
Le Repas de L'Aveugle - Picasso, 1903
When a visual impairment is present from birth (congenital) it will have a more
significant impact on development and learning than if the visual impairment is
acquired later in life (adventitious). Loss of vision can affect all areas of
development.
Vision Loss Can Impact All Areas of Development
Social development is affected as children are not able to pick up on non-verbal
clues or if they are unable to make eye contact they may appear disinterested
and can reduced sustained social interactions. Loss of vision impacts motor
development as a child may not be motivated to move toward that which can't be
seen or causes inhibition to move for fear of the unknown.
Exploration of the environment and materials is critical in cognitive
development, therefore movement is important not only for motor development but
for development of concepts. Language acquisition can also be affected by the
loss of vision as active interaction with people and the environment is
important in language development. Delays in the area of independence in
activities of daily living are impacted as incidental learning through
observation is not possible for those with significant visual impairments. This
impact can be magnified when caregivers, in an effort to help or to rush through
activities, complete tasks for the child which creates a learned helplessness in
the child.
Berthold Lowenfeld
Berthold Lowenfeld, a psychologist, researcher, and advocate for the blind,
hypothesized that blindness imposes 3 basic limitations on a person:
-
Loss of range and variety of experiences
-
Loss of the ability to get around
-
Loss of the control of the environment and the self in relation to it.
Because of these restrictions, the individual relates to and learns about the
world through the remaining senses, particularly hearing and touch. Lowenfeld
stated that "A great many experiences which are taken for granted with seeing
children are either impossible or much more difficult for blind children."
Lowenfeld found that students with visual impairments required special
experiences to help them make sense of what they were learning. Teachers need to
make sure these are minimized through training and skills through active
exploration with concrete materials. Read More about Berthold Lowenfeld at
APH's
Hall of Fame.
Maslow's Hierarchy
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology. It is often portrayed in
the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at
the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top. Maslow's theory
suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual
will strongly desire the secondary or higher level needs. Moslow hierarchy can
be used to solve problems presented by the loss of vision.
1. Personal/Physical: 11 Senses, cognitive IQ, Muscular/skeletal reflex. The
physical attributes of what's going on; sensorimotor. These are requirements for
human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot
continue to function.
2. Safety: Real. Sensorimotoric. Things that are physical (ex. not able to cross
street the same way as sighted. Perceived. Can come from anyone. Must attack
emotional aspect. With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the person's
safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior.
3. Love/Trust: Have to trust someone. Someone needs to motivate me.
4. Esteem: Love and trust self. Trust own decisions.
5. Cognitive. Now able to pay attention. Transfer knowledge.
6. Asthetics/Motivation: Moving toward a motivation. Teach kids to be motivated
and take risks.
7. Self Actualized. They do it. An accepted standard.
The End
"If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being,
you will
probably be unhappy all the days of your life."
Abraham Maslow
ϟ
Δ
11.Abr.2017
publicado
por
MJA
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