Comparison of reading performance between visually impaired and normally sighted students in Malaysia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare reading performance between visually impaired and normally sighted school children. Participants (n = 299) were divided into three groups: normal vision (NV, n = 193), visually impaired print reader (PR, n = 52), and Braille reader (BR, n = 54). Reading performance was determined by measuring reading rate and comprehension. ANOVA was used to compare the results. A statistically significant difference was found in reading rate between the three groups (p < 0.0001). The BR had the lowest reading rate compared to other groups. Only a small percentage of the visually impaired children were able to achieve a reading rate within the normal values of normally sighted children. Results of the comprehension test showed no significant difference in the scores of the three groups (p = 0.232). The findings of this study suggests that visually impaired students required a longer time to read and understand a text and this has implications on the time given to them, especially during examinations.

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“…The reading speed of UiTM-Muw reading chart was found within the reading speed range of normally sighted school children aged 13 to 18 years (72 to 136 wpm) [7]. The similarity was both studies used the unrelated words to evaluate the reading speed of Malay speaker.…”

An Exploratory Study of Reading Mathematical Expressions by Braille Readers

“…Research question 1: How do braille and print readers perform on reading and solving mathematical expressions? Hypothesis 1: Based on studies on tactile perception of pictures (Loomis et al, 1991) and of nonmathematical text (Mohammed & Omar, 2011;Perea et al, 2015;Tobin & Hill, 2015), we expect that in our study, braille readers make more reading errors and need more time. Research question 2: Which tactile and visual strategies do braille and print readers, respectively, use while reading mathematical expressions?…”

“…To identify a word, one needs to perceive each character and integrates this character with previously stored information (Dimitrova-Radojichikj, 2015). It has been shown that tactile reading of nonmathematical text is about 3 times slower than visual reading (Mohammed & Omar, 2011;Perea et al, 2015). Bertelson, Mousty, and D'Alimonte (1985) observed two types of finger cooperation in braille reading on paper: conjoint and disjoint.…”

Are IQ tests enough to measure intelligence in the blind? Brief review of available and potential methods to estimate intelligence in the blind

“…Moreover, on average, blind people read much slower than sighted people, therefore the time given to read a passage in several of those tests is simply inappropriate [Atkins, 2011]. Some suggest that the blind should be given at least twice the amount of time needed to read [Mohammed & Omar, 2011], while others argue for even three times more time [Wetzel & Knowlton, 2000].…”