Psychological assessment of visual impaired children in integrated and special schools

Abstract

Although the educational services for children with visual impairment in Kenya have expanded to include provision in the integrated school setting, not much research has been done to document the benefits of the integrated programme to the children involved. The researcher used the ex – post – facto design to compare the self – concept of 20 blind children in classes 5 to 7 who had been placed in integrated (N = 10) and special (N = 10) schools. Self – concept was measured with a self – concept scale developed by the researchers based on existing self – concept scales especially, the Piers – Harris Children’s Self – Concept Scale and the Tennessee Self – concept Scale. Other variables examined were pupil to pupil and teacher to pupil interaction. The data were analyzed using the two – tailed t – test. The blind pupils in integrated schools had a significantly higher (t = 2.08, p<, 0.5) self – concept than their counterparts in special schools. The level of pupil to pupil interaction for the blind pupils in integrated schools was significantly higher (t = 2.97, p<.01) than that of pupils in special schools. From this finding, it was concluded that the integrated school offers a social environment favourable for the development of a positive self – concept. However, more research involving a larger number of blind children should be carried out to come up with more definitive findings. Integration of more blind children and children with other disabilities, which should be preceded by provision of supportive services and facilities, was recommended.