Certain Modifications of Blindness - Term Paper Example

Blindness Disability Introduction Simply put, blindness results from the absence of sight. On a more complex level, however, it is defined as a disability precisely because there are certain social and logistical limitations placed upon individuals who are blind that necessitate certain modifications in order for them to not only function, but to thrive in any given community. In order to see properly, the eyes and the brain must be in harmony and communicate with one another. The eye itself is made up of multiple parts that all need to work properly in order for sight to be made possible. These include the cornea, iris, lens, and retina. When working properly, these components of the eye make the viewing of light and images to be possible. When the eyes are effective, the images viewed are sent to the brain, and this results in an almost instantaneous process that enables individuals to effectively process and decipher what they have just seen (Anastasiou & Kauffman, 2011). Unfortunately, many individuals do not have the capacity for each of these functions to work properly, resulting in a disability that precludes them from seeing images or colors, if at all. When the eyes do not work properly, some level of impairment can result, or complete blindness may become a reality. This can affect one eye or both, but at some level a disability would be the result. It is important to note that blindness does not necessarily being left completely in the dark. Many individuals who are blind can still see light to some degree, or at least shadows. In essence, however, they cannot view things clearly and need some type of assistance to compensate for this reality. It is precisely because of this limitation that disability is the result. In order to learn effectively in an academic environment, for example, modifications for such individuals need to be made in order to allow them the same functionality and ability to comprehend material as a person with complete sight capabilities enjoy (Anastasiou & Kauffman, 2011). A discussion of this is the focus of this paper. Description of Blindness as a Disability It is important to remember that the classification of a disability carries certain legal and policy requirements along with it. When a personally is legally disabled, for example, they qualify for certain accommodations in society that they would not otherwise be entitled to. Beyond that, it also enables them to qualify for the very services that can help them maintain their sense of dignity within society and be able to be a contributing and productive member of the community. For the blind individuals in society, a commonly used definition has been adopted to read as follows: “A person is blind if his or her vision, with the use of a correcting lens, is 20/200 or less in the better yet. A person who has tunnel vision of 20 degrees or less in the better eye is also considered blind” (Mundorf, 2014, p. 88). By this definition, a person is considered legally blind and disabled if he or she is unable to engage in some type of substantial activity that would reasonably be expected of a person who had full control of his or her sight. At this point, certain accommodations would certainly need to be allowed for, as well as services provided as necessary based on the severity of the disability. Individuals who are shown to be disabled are less likely, or not able, to engage in substantial activity to members of society mostly are able to take part in. For blind individuals, this is usually taken to mean for a period of 12 months or longer. Prevalence of Blindness When discussing the prevalence of blindness in various regions of the world, such as the Gulf countries, Middle East, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it is important to remember that the rates are only estimates. This is due to the reality that many incidences of blindness are simply not reported. In the United States, rates of the disability are largely separated out to include children through the age of 16, and then adults. Current the prevalence of blindness amongst children in the United States stands at a total of 659,700. This is reflected by a figure of 319,100 girls and 340,600 boys. Among adults, there are an estimated 6,670,300 diagnosed with some type of disability related to blindness. Within the United Kingdom, it is estimated that roughly two million individuals have some form of vision loss that would be classified as a disability, which amount to about one in every 30 people. The older the person, the more likely they are to be blind. As an example, one in five people in the UK over the age of 75 have vision loss, and this number jumps to one in every two individuals over the age of 90. In the Middle East and Gulf Countries, it is estimated that between 3.5 and 5.8% of adults over the age of 50 are blind to some degree (de Verdier & Ek, 2014) Causes of Blindness There are many causes of blindness, but severe distinguishing features have been identified as leading factors that contribute to an individual either being born blind or losing their vision later in life. The most commonly attributed factor leading to blindness are diabetes, macular degeneration, traumatic injuries to the eyes, infection, glaucoma, and a lack of access to proper glasses or correction vision equipment. There are some other factors that lead to blindness, although they are much less common in occurrence. These include vitamin A deficiency, retinopathy of prematurity, vascular disease that affects the retina or optic nerve of the eye including having a stroke, ocular inflammatory disease, retinitis pigmentosa, primary or secondary malignancies of the eye, congenital abnormalities, hereditary diseases of they eye, and some type of chemical poisoning from toxic agents, including methanol. When an individual suffer temporary blindness, it is important to note that the causes are often different from those involved in individuals that develop permanent blindness (Gyles, 2002). In diagnosing this particular disability, an examination of all parts of the eye will usually be conducted by an ophthalmologist to determine the extent of the blindness. Globally, individuals who are blind or are visually impaired are defined as such by their unable to see properly, or who experience great difficulty when attempting to see. Individuals who tend to lose their vision in a rapid fashion, as opposed to over a number of years, are typically more symptomatic in terms of their vision loss. It is important to remember that the actual treatment of blindness is directly related to the cause of the disability itself, which makes it critical for an individual to work with his or her doctor to determine what exactly happened to cause the vision loss in order to receive the most direct and effect and effective treatment options (Prescott, 2011). Characteristics of Blindness Blindness can be either permanent or temporary, and the prospect of developing or having this disability in the first place can be quite a stressful and traumatic event for most individuals. In effect, the eventual prognosis for blindness is really dependent on the cause of the blindness itself. In most jurisdictions, “Legal blinds is defined by lawmakers in nations or states in order to either limit allowable activities, such as driving, of individuals who are ‘legally blind’ or to provide preferential governmental benefits to those people in the form of special educational services, assistance with daily functions or monetary assistance. It is estimated that approximately 700,000 people in the United States alone meet the legal definition of blindness” (Observer Magazine, 2007). Blind individuals can range from losing sight in one eye, to having the world appear blurry all the time, to complete blindness in both eyes. As such, there are different interventions to be utilized depending on the severity of the disability, and at what stage in life it is developed. Educational Interventions Blind individuals deserve a quality education, and to this end there are a variety of interventions that can be implemented to facilitate this process and accomplish important goals and objectives. The key is early intervention for students who are visually impaired or blind in order to help them learn to better manage their disability, work with it, and receive the education that they need to be successful and productive moving forward in life. One intervention that can be done for young children is to provide toys and various other types of materials that are tactually interesting. Such resources enable children to learn what certain objects are and to be comfortable in their surroundings, particularly given the reality of the absence of sight. When adults and children play with real objects, young people learn about the world around them and can better manage their environment, enabling their surroundings to be less threatening in the end (Saowaruk, Bourquin, & Mor Poonpit, 2006). Another intervention that should be practiced is to reduce as many auditory distractions as possible. Children, in particular, are already a bit frightened about their inability to see what is around them, so added sounds become a distraction that can preclude any type of learning from taking place. It is recommended that televisions or radios be turned off, or the volume minimized greatly, in order to allow children to focus on what they are tying to learn about their surroundings without the added distraction of trying to determine what is begin said around them (Trief & Feeney, 2003). It is also important to have someone, like a sibling or other family member, be able to help visually impaired of blind children. Such individuals should not be coerced into doing so, however, as this will just create hard feelings on the part of both parties. When a blind person has another person to experience fun and engaging activities with, however, then learning process can become alive and more interesting for them. With this in mind, a final intervention worth mentioning is that constant routines and transitions should be established. In essence, it is important to take away the unknown as much as possible in order to provide blind children with some type of structure or organization that allows them to feel much more in control of their disability (Trief & Feeney, 2003). Conclusion While blindness is certainly a disability, it does not have to limit an individuals ability to be productive and valuable members of society. There are two factors that should be considered in educating and working with blind people, and that involves giving access to certain modifications that enable the person to be successful, while still allowing for the reality that it is ultimately up to the disabled individual to work within their own inherent limitations. For far too long society has looked down upon the disabled and has not afforded them full and equal access to much of what individual and respective communities have to offer. Many feel that disabled people, the blind included, simply do not have as much to offer. Thankfully, this mindset is slowly being changed in much of the world, but there is still much work to be done. Education is the key. Blind individuals do certainly need access to certain resources that allow their visual impairment to be much less of a factor in the learning process, but having been granted this they can certainly be valuable contributors to society in much the same way that a non-disabled person with full sight does. An area that is still sorely lacking in this area involves the developing world, where poor nutrition and lack of access to valuable corrective equipment to allow the visually impaired to see, precludes many blind individuals from feeling that they can adequately function in a society where the rules and norms seem to be stacked against them. Hopefully this will change in the future as the global community begins to focus more on helping blind individuals and granting them the resources and tools that they need to thrive in all that they do. References Anastasiou, D., & Kauffman, J. M. (2011). A social constructionist approach to disability: Implications for special education. Exceptional Children, 77(3), 367-384. de Verdier, K., & Ek, U. (2014). A longitudinal study of reading development, academic achievement, and support in swedish inclusive education for students with blindness or severe visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (Online), 108(6), 461. Gyles, C. A. (2002). A follow-up study of the self-determination, educational, transitional, and attributional factors associated with employment success of people with blindness and visual impairments in jamaica, west indies (Ed.D.). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. (304799686). Mundorf, J. P. (2014). Teaching reading to a student with blindness using universal design for learning: A practitioner inquiry (Ed.D.). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. (1669484832). Observer magazine: Health: Alphabet soup: More than 100 years after 'word blindness' was first discovered, thousands of children with great potential are still marginalised by an education system unable to cope with a common but silent disorder. simon garfield investigates the symptoms, treatment and prognosis of dyslexia. (2007, Jan 14, 2007). Prescott, J. R. (2011). John stanley, "A miracle of art and nature": The role of disability in the life and career of a blind eighteenth-century musician (Ph.D.). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. (929146262). Saowaruk Sukontharungsee, Bourquin, E., & Mor Poonpit. (2006). A first look at children and youths who are deaf-blind in the kingdom of thailand. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100(9), 557-562. Trief, E., & Feeney, R. (2003). Guidelines for a precollege curriculum for students with blindness and visual impairments. RE:View, 35(3), 137-143. Appendix: Critique of 2 Websites Related to this Paper Website #1 Web title: National Eye Institute Web URL: www.nei.nih.gov/eyedata/blind Weakness: Lack of detail in the explanation of each item Strength: A great amount of statistical data that enables one to visually see the differences in prevalence rate based upon demographic groups and other variables. Will use it in future: I would certainly use this website again in the future. Website #2 Web title: Medicine Net - Blindness Web URL:www.medicinenet.com/blindness/article.htm Weakness: There are not inherent weaknesses to this site given what the researcher was hopping to learn. Strength: This site has numerous strengths, as it discusses in layperson terms the causes of blindness and how to handle its effects. Will use it in future: This is certainly a site I would use again in the future given the plethora of valuable information related to blindness available there. Read More