Learning problems faced by students with visual impairments

describes visual impairment by considering the visual acuity of a person. It describes a blind person as the one having visual acuity of 20/200 or less than that, even by using optical devices. This means that, a person with blindness can see an object at 20 feet whereas a sighted person can see at 200 feet. A legal definition considers a person with low vision as having visual acuity of 20/70 meaning that, a person with low vision can see an object at 20 feet whereas a person with normal vision can see at 70 feet (Spungin, 2002). Visual impairment can be congenital, occurring at or shortly after birth or acquired through other means later in life. Before imposing any teaching to a student with visual impairment it is important that a teacher knows how the loss in vision influence the learning process (Sacks and Silberman, 1998). Visual information is crucial in helping children observe and interpret what happens in the environment. It is also an important prerequisite for conceptual development in a student‟s learning. Malformation and destruction of this part of the body, brings about a reduced amount of sensory data to the learner, leading to deficit or delay in various skills learned through watching and imitation from others. This impacts language development, reasoning skills, problem solving abilities and abstract thinking. This finally causes great

impact on the individual‟s learning and performance, because a student cannot observe and use visual information to interpret various learning situations happening in the environment (Bishop, 1996; Fraser and Maguvhe, 2008; Webster and Roe, 1998).

The cognitive abilities of learners with visual impairments will vary independent of their visual impairments. Learners with visual impairments may reach developmental milestones at different rates than other learners due to their lack of sensory input and restricted interactions with the environment. This contributes to their incomplete concept development. This can later affect their ability to infer, comprehend, predict, and create during learning activities (Bardin and Lewis, 2008).

Learners with visual impairments may lack concepts such as positioning the body; object characteristics (short, long); time; spatial awareness; actions (throw); quantity; environmental awareness; and certain symbols (for example, green means go) (Marilyn, 2008). As a result of this, teachers should make their lessons as concrete as possible. Learners with visual impairments should also be given direct exposure to objects, sounds, smells and tastes. This can be done by means of expeditions and outings; apparatus; models; blocks; stuffed animals; embossed maps; mathematical forms; natural products; raw materials (Sarah, Neal and Cathy, 2005). An American study revealed that 49.9% of learners with visual impairments have failed at least one course in general mainstream education (Bardin and Lewis, 2008). According to Bardin

and Lewis (2008), 15.2% fewer learners with visual impairments score at state-defined levels of proficiency or higher in reading and nearly 20% of them score lower in math. One of the causes is that they are not able to fully participate in the lessons in the mainstream classroom (Bardin and Lewis, 2008). High-achieving learners with visual impairments were engaged in the classroom activities 75% of the time, and low-achieving learners 51% of the time (Bardin & Lewis, 2008). Teachers should be encouraged and helped to develop strategies to ensure that these learners participate fully in the whole range of educational opportunities offered throughout the day (Sarah, Nail& Cathy 2005).

According to a study by Nasiforo (2010), conducted in Kenyan teachers colleges, it revealed that tutors felt that since there were no adaptations in all the practical subjects, they lacked skills of assisting the students, thus they left them to depend on sighted students for explanations. In addition, sighted students play a big role in the success of the students with visual impairments, since most of the teaching/learning resources were not available in Braille. On the other hand teacher trainees with visual impairments said that they used Braille machines to take notes in class and sometimes when the lecturers were too fast they missed a lot of information, this forced them to depend on their sighted peers to dictate and explain to them the information that they missed during the lessons (Nasiforo, 2010). Mugambi (2012) found out that teachers are not confident enough with their level of training to enable them to teach

students with visual impairments. This calls for in servicing courses to update their knowledge and make them gain confidence in carrying out their duties.

A research done in Kenyan teacher training colleges in 2010 by Nasiforo, findings revealed that students with visual impairments faced challenges during teaching practice. The greatest challenge as revealed by the findings was in the area of general preparation for teaching. For effective teaching, preparation was paramount. Students with visual impairments lacked books in Braille for preparation. They also needed to present their schemes of work and lessons in print for approval by their tutors who could not read them in Braille. That meant that those students had to look for readers among the sighted students who were equally busy preparing for the same activity. There was also need for the students to rely on their colleagues to help them in preparing teaching/learning resources which were usually visual. In most cases they found themselves teaching without teaching/learning resources which would have led to being penalized by their assessors (Nasiforo, 2010).

2.6.2. Attitudes of students with visual impairment towards inclusion.