Visual impairment and language development in visually impaired children at Agururu primary school, Tororo municipality

Abstract

Visual impairment refers to the inability or limited ability to see. Some visually impaired people have low or limited vision while others have no light perception and are considered totally blind. People may be born blind or may develop vision loss from disease, aging, or injuries. When blindness is combined with the inability to hear, it is known as deaf-blindness. Children with visual impairments or partially sighted people are considered to be people who can, even with some adjustments (use of lenses, closed circuit screen, enlarged printed speech, etc.) read texts in printed form and write in the conventional way (Holbrook, 2006). Visually impaired people have difficulty or an inability to read everything from gestures to pictures to text. Some people may be unable to read anything at all, while others may have difficulty reading close up or far away. (Someone who is near sighted has difficulty focusing on objects in the distance, while those who are far sighted have difficulty focusing on things that are close up.) Many daily functions are challenging for those who suffer visual impairment. Some visually impaired students are educated in a specialized setting with other blind learners or with other learners who have different difficulties or disabilities. Some VI students are integrated into classrooms with sighted students. Teachers may or may not be specially trained to teach visually impaired learners. Many teachers do their own research and gather their own tools and supplies in order to help VI learners. Talking and listening to children from the moment they are born helps them develop good language and communication skills. This enables children to listen and express themselves well. It also helps them to learn and develop friendship. Many children with visual impairment develop normal speech and language skills. A child with visual impairment can also use their other sense to support them to learn to communicate, the verbal information you give to support what your child hears, touches, smells, and tastes is essential to their learning. A child with visual impairment can often hear a sound, but will need help from those around them to learn the source of the sound, or what has caused it. For example, a child might hear somebody ringing a bell, but not be able to see the person shaking the bell or where they are.