The Impact of Residual Vision in Spatial Skills of Individuals With Visual Impairments

Abstract

Loss of vision is believed to have a great impact on the acquisition of spatial knowledge. The aims of the present study are to examine the performance of individuals with visual impairments on spatial tasks and the impact of residual vision on processing these tasks. In all, 28 individuals with visual impairments-blindness or low vision-participated in this study. The results reveal that participants with visual impairments were competent to perform spatial tasks, and their performance is related to the existence of residual vision.

Graph accessibility and comprehension for the blind: A challenge of its own kind

“…In this section, I discuss the ways in which the findings align with and add to existing literature on SVI and graphing (Dulin & Hatwell, 2006;Papadopoulos et al, 2011). The section is organized around the themes and research questions of the study.…”

“…These researchers claimed that individuals whose vision loss occurs at some point after birth are likely to understand their location within an environment and construct mental maps of a space they navigated with more accuracy than individuals with no visual experience. Papadopoulos et al (2011) found that adolescents with late onset blindness were significantly more accurate than their counterparts with congenital blindness in keeping track of the relative positions of multiple objects at a time as they traveled through a large room with an odd geometric shape. Though Papadopoulos et al…”

“…Although individuals with acquired visual impairments are suggested to perform spatial tasks significantly more accurately than individuals with congenital blindness (Dulin & Hatwell, 2006;Papadopoulos et al 2011), Dulin and Hatwell (2006) also showed that expertise in the production of tactile graphics had an effect on the quality of performance with spatial tasks for individuals of different onsets. These researchers posited that participants with congenital blindness who had expertise in using tactile graphics produced more accurate representations of paths of moving objects than individuals who did not have as much experience with mapping but had prior visual experiences.…”

“…Although declared that much of what is known about visual impairment centers around children with total and congenital blindness, studies from Dulin and Hatwell (2006) and Papadopoulos, Koustriava, and Kartasidou (2011) center on individuals with congenital blindness as well as individuals with previous visual experiences. Dulin and Hatwell (2006), along with Papadopoulos et al (2011), contended that onset of visual impairment has an influence on the ability to understand spatial information. These researchers claimed that individuals whose vision loss occurs at some point after birth are likely to understand their location within an environment and construct mental maps of a space they navigated with more accuracy than individuals with no visual experience.…”

“…On the other hand, Kamden and Guape were born with visual impairments severe enough that neither are able to read large print, and both students emphasized that reading and constructing graphs with assistive technology that produced tactile graphics was the most reasonable means for them because of the skills they developed to read braille. Dulin and Hatwell (2006) and Papadopoulos et al (2011) have shown that onset of visual impairment influences the ease with which individuals with visual impairments are able to construct tactile representations of paths and gauge the relative positions of objects around them as they navigate. These researchers contended that individuals with late onset blindness were able to construct tactile representations of paths and navigate spaces more quickly and with fewer errors than those with congenital and early onset blindness.…”