Literature focusing on individuals with visual impairments has not evaluated the important role perceived motor competence (PMC) plays in promoting moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purposes of this study were to examine the association between visual impairment level and PMC scores for children ages 3-13, and the association between PMC and physical activity (PA) for children ages 8-13. Results demonstrated a positive association between level of visual impairment and PMC (r s = .574, p = .025) and a negative, non-significant association between age and PMC (r s = −. 358, p = .190). For participants ages 8-13, PMC was positively associated with MVPA (r s = .797, p = .010), while age was negatively associated with MVPA (r s = −752, p = .019). The findings suggest that children with visual impairments tend to have low levels of PMC. For children ages 8-13, PMC relates with MVPA. As children age, a trend emerges that PMC and MVPA lowers.

No abstract

The Perceived Physical Competence subscale of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA) is a valid, reliable, and widely used assessment of perceived motor competence (PMC) for young children. Recently, Brian, Haegele, and Bostick modified the PSPCSA to create the Test of Perceived Motor Competence (TPMC) for children with visual impairments (VI). However, they determined that content and face validity of the TPMC-VI was necessary. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the content and face validity of the TPMC-VI for use in children with VI. This study features the Delphi technique with a panel of experts as well as participant interviews with one child and her teacher. Findings demonstrated that the TPMC-VI shows preliminary content and face validity for assessing PMC of children with VI. The TPMC-VI allows researchers and practitioners to accurately estimate the PMC of students with VI.

The Test of Perceived Motor Competence for children with visual impairments (TPMC-VI) is currently content validated. Further validation and reliability were needed to report the psychometric properties of the TPMC-VI; therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity and the internal consistency for the TPMC-VI. Children aged 3-8 years with visual impairments completed the TPMC-VI with assistance from their parents or members of the research team. Results indicated that the TPMC-VI is a valid and reliable (α = .68) assessment. Researchers and practitioners can confidently use the TPMC-VI to evaluate children's perceived motor competence.

Children with visual impairments often exhibit difficulties with locomotor skills (e.g., the ability to move one’s body from one place to another), warranting the need for ecologically valid interventions with conditions that attempt to match the real world in a variety of settings. Parents and physical education teachers are the ones choosing to provide movement opportunities for children with visual impairments and must be included in any ecologically valid intervention strategy. This was a descriptive-analytic study. To support the greatest diversity in settings, the authors recruited 94 participants (blind = 44 and low vision = 50; Mage = 13.01 years, SD = 3.26) from schools for the deaf and blind in the United States (teacher led, n = 17) or Latvia (teacher led, n = 57), through an online LISTSERV throughout the United States (parent led, n = 10), and a control subgroup (n = 10). At the pretest, no participant’s motor development met age expectations. Children with visual impairments from multiple locations and cultures significantly improved compared with controls who did not. Results were most favorable when the physical educator was the interventionist. However, further research is needed to replicate these findings.