Level of Independence and the Mental Status of the Visually Challenged High School Students in Chennai

Shanthi  Edward; Vijaykumar  Edward; Kritika  V

doi:10.55489/njcm1322022158

Authors

Shanthi Edward Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai
Vijaykumar Edward Department of General Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai
Kritika V Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55489/njcm1322022158

Keywords:

Managing, Rehabilitation Centres Social Support, Mobility, Awareness

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study is to measure the number of visually impaired students who are capable of doing and managing their own work and also to evaluate their state of mind due to their impairment. The study is also to bring awareness about the rehabilitation centres and special training on mobility for the children.

Objective: To find out the level of independence and the mental status of visually challenged students.

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Sixty visually impaired students were included in the study by random sampling method. Male students from class 9^th to 12^th standard were evaluated. Data relevant to the study are gathered by interview schedule method and questionnaire was designed for the study beforehand.

Result: It is evident from the current study that 83.3% of the impaired have not been trained to walk independently. Almost 78.3% of the students are not even aware of the rehabilitation centres. However, about 98.3% of students are independent in grooming and washing & also taking care of their personal work. As per the survey, only 26.6 % of students are feeling isolated, whereas, the balance 73.4% students feel very comfortable while dealing with sighted students. About 96.6% feel very happy and satisfied as they get enough support from their parents.

References

Park K. Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 25th Edition. Jabalpur: Bhanot Publishers;2021. p 430.

Pavey S, Douglas G, McLinden M, McCall S. An investigation in-to the mobility and independence needs of children with vis-ual impairment. Part 1: The development of a mobility and in-dependence curriculum framework. British Journal of Visual Impairment. 2003; 21:4-9.

Fearon RP, Bakermans‐Kranenburg MJ, Van IJzendoorn MH, Lapsley AM, Roisman GI. The significance of insecure attach-ment and disorganization in the development of children’s ex-ternalizing behavior: a meta‐analytic study. Child develop-ment. 2010; 81:435-56.

Borca CV. Effective strategies for developing independence in movement and travel of blind students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2010; 2:4310-3.

5Aciem TM, Mazzotta MJ. Personal and social autonomy of visually impaired people who were assisted by rehabilitation services. Revista Brasileira de Oftalmologia. 2013; 72:261-7.

Stelmack J. Quality of life of low-vision patients and outcomes of low-vision rehabilitation. Optometry and Vision Science. 2001;78:335-42.

Antony MS, Bachani D, Murthy GV, Rao GV, Sil AK, Gogate P, Nirmalan PK, Shamanna BR. How to assess and plan for the management of visually challenged children in the context of multiple “different-abilities”. Community Eye Health Journal. 2007 Jun;20(62):S92

Routh TA. Psychotherapy as used in a rehabilitation centre for the blind. Indian J Soc Work. 1962 Jul;23:173-8.

Zheng DD, Christ SL, Lam BL, Arheart KL, Galor A, Lee DJ. In-creased mortality risk among the visually impaired: the roles of mental well-being and preventive care practices. Investiga-tive ophthalmology & visual science. 2012 May 1;53(6):2685-92.

Salive ME, Guralnik J, Glynn RJ, Christen W, Wallace RB, Ost-feld AM. Association of visual impairment with mobility and physical function. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1994 Mar;42(3):287-92.

Chia EM, Wang JJ, Rochtchina E, Smith W, Cumming RR, Mitch-ell P. Impact of bilateral visual impairment on health-related quality of life: the Blue Mountains Eye Study. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science. 2004 Jan 1;45(1):71-6.

Chia E, Mitchell P, Smith W, Rochtchina E, Wang J. Visual Im-pairment and Health-Related Quality of Life: The Blue Moun-tains Eye Study. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sci-ence. 2003 May 1;44(13):984-.

13 Tunde-Ayinmode MF, Akande TM, Ademola-Popoola DS. Psychologica and social adjustment to blindness: Under-standing from two groups of blind people in Ilorin, Nigeria. Annals of African medicine. 2011;10(2).

Sarabandi A, Mobaraki H, Kamali M, Chabok A, Soltani S. The effect of rehabilitation Services on quality of life for the blind. Modern Rehabilitation. 2014 Jan 1;7(4).

Rokach A, Berman D, Rose A. Loneliness of the Blind and the Visually Impaired. Frontiers in psychology. 2021;12.

McLinden M, Douglas G, Cobb R, Hewett R, Ravenscroft J. ‘Ac-cess to learning’and ‘learning to access’: Analysing the distinc-tive role of specialist teachers of children and young people with vision impairments in facilitating curriculum access through an ecological systems theory. British Journal of Vis-ual Impairment. 2016 May;34(2):177-95.

Tuttle DW. The role of the special education teacher-counselor in meeting students’ self-esteem needs. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 1987 Apr;81(4):156-61.

Mani MN. The role of integrated education for blind children. Community Eye Health. 1998;11(27):41.

Kher Chaitrali S, Dabhade Yogita A, Kadam Snehal K, Dhamdhere Swati D, Deshpande Aarti V. An intelligent walk-ing stick for the blind. International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science. 2015 Jan;3(1):1057-62.

Paul IJ, Sasirekha S, Mohanavalli S, Jayashree C, Priya PM, Monika K. Smart Eye for Visually Impaired-An aid to help the blind people. In2019 International Conference on Computa-tional Intelligence in Data Science (ICCIDS) 2019 Feb 21 (pp. 1-5). IEEE.