EDUCAÇÃO INFANTIL COMO DIREITO FUNDAMENTAL DA CRIANÇA CEGA CONGÊNITA

Esta dissertação se refere a uma pesquisa exploratória que tem como objetivo a Educação Infantil como direito fundamental da criança cega congênita de zero a cinco anos, ou que tenha ficado cega até os 12 meses de vida. Buscou-se compreender os benefícios da integração nos espaços educativos infantis públicos, as políticas públicas federais e as do município de São Paulo, bem como a relação do direito à educação na Modalidade Educação Especial. Para tanto, aborda o que é a cegueira, relacionando aspectos históricos da educação das pessoas com deficiência visual e de políticas públicas com o direito à educação. Embora a educação tenha despertado o interesse de muitos órgãos da sociedade e de agências da ONU, envolvendo documentos jurídicos como a Declaração Universal de Direitos Humanos (1948), a Constituição Federal do Brasil (1988), o Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (1990), a Declaração de Salamanca (1994), que se constitui em um marco da Educação Especial, a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (1996) lei esta que garante a educação como direito de todos, conforme o enunciado constitucional e, ainda que a Educação Infantil seja essencial como alicerce da educação básica, ela ainda não é vista como direito fundamental. Esta pesquisa mostra que tanto crianças cegas congênitas quanto seus pais enfrentam obstáculos quando procuram as escolas: falta de vagas nas Creches e EMEIs, formação insuficiente dos pedagogos para trabalhar com a inclusão do aluno com necessidades educacionais especiais, estigmas e falta de estrutura física para a acessibilidade e autonomia do discente. A falta de salas de apoio à inclusão e de equipamentos de educação infantil, bem como de pessoal especializado, são alguns dos exemplos da situação evidenciada, que necessita de um olhar de caráter interventivo no município de São Paulo, sob pena de responsabilização das autoridades responsáveis por sua oferta, por ferir um direito que é fundamental pelas leis nacionais e internacionais.

FATORES DE RISCO E DE PROTEÇÃO À SAÚDE E A VIDA EM ADOLESCENTES DEFICIENTES VISUAIS

A condição da deficiência é observada ao longo da história da humanidade. Informações, da Organização Mundial da Saúde e do Brasil, mostram a existência no país de 3,6 milhões de pessoas com deficiências visuais, sendo 900 mil cegos e 2,7 milhões de pessoas com baixa visão. A evolução da deficiência visual está relacionada às questões, como o crescimento populacional, dificuldades econômicas, aumento da expectativa de vida, escassez de serviços especializados e falhas na prevenção. Os participantes, deste estudo, foram adolescentes com deficiência visual, possuidores de baixa visão. Foram investigados os fatores de risco e de proteção a saúde e a vida e a avaliação da qualidade de vida. O método de investigação é exploratório e descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa, uma obtida com a aplicação de uma escala de autopreenchimento, que aborda a percepção dos sujeitos sobre a qualidade de vida e a outra, a partir de entrevistas individuais. As análises dos dados obtidos apresentam, que a Qualidade de Vida é percebida e avaliada por eles, positivamente, pois, não existem indicadores negativos nesta questão. Os domínios com maior predominância foram o físico e o psicológico, em que se sobressaiu em comparação aos domínios das relações sociais e meio ambiente. Em relação aos riscos, observamos que existe maior vulnerabilidade em relação à locomoção em espaço público, o nível de deficiência, a superproteção materna e familiar, a dificuldade no processo de ensino aprendizagem, isolamento, fazer escolhas, bebidas alcoólicas e sexualidade. Relatam que lidam com esses riscos por meio da estimulação dos demaissentidos, pelo uso e estimulação da visão residual, boa, meio de uma boa saúde, integração grupal, utilização dos discursos disponíveis, como tecnologia e Braille e por meio da religiosidade. Revelam que a proteção ocorre a partir da auto-estima, do suporte social, por meio de amigos e familiares, pelos professores e um processo de ensino/aprendizagem adequado a esta condição, além do lazer. As expectativas para o futuro envolvem trabalho e estudo, além de questões de desenvolvimento pessoal, profissional e social. Os adolescentes, com deficiência visual, pesquisados, buscam mais autonomia e oportunidades para atravessar os desafios desta complexa etapa do ciclo vital da mesma forma que os demais adolescentes

Design of the low vision quality-of-life questionnaire (LVQOL) and measuring the outcome of low-vision rehabilitation

PURPOSE: To design and validate a vision-specific quality-of-life assessment tool to be used in a clinical setting to evaluate low-vision rehabilitation strategy and management. METHODS: Previous vision-related questionnaires were assessed by low-vision rehabilitation professionals and patients for relevance and coverage. The 74 items selected were pretested to ensure correct interpretation. One hundred and fifty patients with low vision completed the chosen questions on four occasions to allow the selection of the most appropriate items. The vision-specific quality of life of patients with low vision was compared with that of 70 age-matched and gender-matched patients with normal vision and before and after low-vision rehabilitation in 278 patients. RESULTS: Items that were unreliable, internally inconsistent, redundant, or not relevant were excluded, resulting in the 25-item Low Vision Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (LVQOL). Completion of the LVQOL results in a summed score between 0 (a low quality of life) and 125 (a high quality of life). The LVQOL has a high internal consistency (α = 0.88) and good reliability (0.72). The average LVQOL score for a population with low vision (60.9 ± 25.1) was significantly lower than the average score of those with normal vision (100.3 ± 20.8). Rehabilitation improved the LVQOL score of those with low vision by an average of 6.8 ± 15.6 (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The LVQOL was shown to be an internally consistent, reliable, and fast method for measuring the vision-specific quality of life of the visually impaired in a clinical setting. It is able to quantify the quality of life of those with low vision and is useful in determining the effects of low-vision rehabilitation. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.

Predicting prescribed magnification

Aim: To determine the best method of estimating the optimum magnification needed by visually impaired patients. Methods: The magnification of low vision aids prescribed to 187 presbyopic visually impaired patients for reading newspapers or books was compared with logMAR distance and near acuity (at 25 cm) and magnification predicted by +4 D step near additions. Results: Distance letter (r = 0.58) and near word visual acuity (r = 0.67) were strongly correlated to the prescribed magnification as were predictive formulae based on these measures. Prediction using the effect of proximal magnification resulted in a similar correlation (r = 0.67) and prediction was poorer in those who did not benefit from proximal magnification. The difference between prescribed and predicted magnification was found to be unrelated to the condition causing visual impairment (F = 2.57, p = 0.08), the central visual field status (F = 0.57, p = 0.57) and patient psychology (F = 0.44, p = 0.51), but was higher in those prescribed stand magnifiers than high near additions (F = 5.99, p < 0.01). Conclusions: The magnification necessary to perform normal visual tasks can be predicted in the majority of cases using visual acuity measures, although measuring the effect of proximal magnification demonstrates the effect of stronger glasses and identifies those in whom prescribed magnification is more difficult to predict.

Development and psychometric tests of the Chinese-version low vision quality of life questionnaire

Background/Aims: To develop and assess the psychometric validity of a Chinese language Vision Health related quality-of-life (VRQoL) measurement instrument for the Chinese visually impaired. Methods: The Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (LVQOL) was translated and adapted into the Chinese-version Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (CLVQOL). The CLVQOL was completed by 100 randomly selected people with low vision (primary group) and 100 people with normal vision (control group). Ninety-four participants from the primary group completed the CLVQOL a second time 2 weeks later (test-retest group). The internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, item-internal consistency, item-discrimination validity, construct validity and discriminatory power of the CLVQOL were calculated. Results: The review committee agreed that the CLVQOL replicated the meaning of the LVQOL and was sensitive to cultural differences. The Cronbach's α coefficient and the split-half coefficient for the four scales and total CLVQOL scales were 0.75-0.97. The test-retest reliability as estimated by the intraclass correlations coefficient was 0.69-0.95. Item-internal consistency was >0.4 and item-discrimination validity was generally <0.40. The Varimax rotation factor analysis of the CLVQOL identified four principal factors. the quality-of-life rating of four subscales and the total score of the CLVQOL of the primary group were lower than those of the Control group, both in hospital-based subjects and community-based subjects. Conclusion: The CLVQOL Chinese is a culturally specific vision-related quality-of-life measure instrument. It satisfies conventional psychometric criteria, discriminates visually healthy populations from low vision patients and may be valuable in screening the local community as well as for use in clinical practice or research. © Springer 2005.

Age-related macular degeneration patients' awareness of nutritional factors

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults in the United Kingdom. This study sought to characterise AMD patients who seek the services of the Macular Society, and determine the level and source of their dietary knowledge. A questionnaire was designed, validated, and administered to 158 participants. The questions covered demographic data and knowledge of nutrition and supplementation. The mean age of participants was 79 years; 61% of them were female, and 27% were registered visually impaired. Only 55% of the participants thought diet was important for eye health, 63% felt that they had not received enough information about AMD. The participants reported that their information mainly came from non-professional support groups. Most participants identified healthy food, but could not say why, and were not able to identify carotenoid rich foods. The results of the study will inform design of education and dissemination methods regarding dietary information. © The Author(s) 2014.

Desenho de deficiência visual: uma experiência no ensino de artes visuais na perspectiva da educação inclusiva

Over the past 30 years, Art Education in interface with disabilities has been a subject of increasing interest in research in academia, especially with regard to Special Education, but still has some shortages in terms of socialization studies to discuss this type of teaching from the perspective of inclusive education. In this scenario, this paper presents an analysis from the field of teaching Visual Arts in the context of school inclusion, with emphasis on teaching drawing to the visually impaired. The conducted literature indicates a number of authors who discuss teaching drawing to people with visual disabilities, who are dedicated primarily to the Special Education context. In this sense, the shortage of research that discuss this teaching from the perspective of inclusive education, this research aimed at the inclusive approach to teaching drawing in the school context. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a proposal for a pedagogical intervention in Visual Arts, with reference to drawing and its construction process, with the participation of seeing and unseeing students. Therefore, the methodological approach, which was qualitative, was the intervention research, in the light of the Bakhtinian principles of dialogism and otherness, with exploratory study characteristics. The locus of the research was the State School Admiral Newton Braga Faria, which is located in Alecrim, on the East Zone of Natal / RN and is near the Institute for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind - IERC / RN. The class chosen for intervention was the 7th grade “C” afternoon shift, which had children aged 12 to 16, with 27 students enrolled, three students with disabilities: 02 blind girls and 01 deafblind boy with light hearing and visual loss. As interlocutors of the research, we could also count on the Art teacher who served as a collaborator, as well as teacher in the school’s Multifunction Resource Room. The instruments and research procedures were observation, semi-structured interview, field diary and the photo / video recording. In the development of research, we conducted 10 workshops with multisensory teaching sequences, articulating the physical, tactile and graphical expressions as intrinsic to the reading and production of drawing for both seeing and unseeing students. The process and data built on research allowed for a reflection on cultural experiences with drawing in the school context and on the interactions between seeing and unseeing students in the production and analysis of tactile-visual drawings. They also point out the construction of a teaching approach to drawing, in the context of the common class, from educational workshops that enable artistic and aesthetic interactions from the perspective of school inclusiveness. Thus, we argued that the mobilization of the tactile, physical and graphical expressions can be adopted in a multisensory approach that enables a pedagogical focus that involves all students and is not restricted to the presence of students with visual impairment.

Recomendações para um sistema de sinalização tátil a partir de abordagens ergonômicas e da percepção do deficiente visual para o Campus Parnamirim do IFRN

This study reports recommendations for a tactile and graphic wayfinding system aiming to offer more orientability and mobility for visually impaired people (blindness and low vision) at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Parnamirim Campus. It was necessary to focus on visual impaired people and approach concepts like orientation and accessibility at the built environment. In order to provide the comprehension of a complex social phenomenon and preserve the meaningful characteristics of the events, this research has developed a single case study in which elements of Post Occupation Evaluation have been used. Its purpose was to allow not only a technical analysis, but also the user perception about the space in use. The chosen tool to collect the user’s opinions and considerations was the Walk Together Method. The collected and analyzed information has demonstrated that, although Parnamirim Campus has implemented some interventions in relation to the spatial accessibility, they are still not enough to create an environment which arranges safety and autonomy for the visual impaired people and the other ones who attend there. This study suggests that it happened because the engineering interventions at the Campus have been based on Brazilian technical standards NBR 9050:2004, which is proper for the physical impaired people, but it does not offer enough information to respond to all the specific needs demanded by all the classifications of visual impairment.

Recomendações para um sistema de sinalização tátil a partir de abordagens ergonômicas e da percepção do deficiente visual para o Campus Parnamirim do IFRN

This study reports recommendations for a tactile and graphic wayfinding system aiming to offer more orientability and mobility for visually impaired people (blindness and low vision) at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Parnamirim Campus. It was necessary to focus on visual impaired people and approach concepts like orientation and accessibility at the built environment. In order to provide the comprehension of a complex social phenomenon and preserve the meaningful characteristics of the events, this research has developed a single case study in which elements of Post Occupation Evaluation have been used. Its purpose was to allow not only a technical analysis, but also the user perception about the space in use. The chosen tool to collect the user’s opinions and considerations was the Walk Together Method. The collected and analyzed information has demonstrated that, although Parnamirim Campus has implemented some interventions in relation to the spatial accessibility, they are still not enough to create an environment which arranges safety and autonomy for the visual impaired people and the other ones who attend there. This study suggests that it happened because the engineering interventions at the Campus have been based on Brazilian technical standards NBR 9050:2004, which is proper for the physical impaired people, but it does not offer enough information to respond to all the specific needs demanded by all the classifications of visual impairment.

Intervenção mediacional na aprendizagem do braille: um estudo com crianças deficientes visuais

This study aimed to construct and evaluate a proposed mediational intervention with preschool children through reading workshops and writing in Braille system. The proposal is based on the concepts of Vygotsky on defectology and approach to the Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) developed by Feuerstein. For the research were drawn up ten Mediational workshops, in which they developed a work by reading a children's story and from her reading activities and writing in Braille system. The workshops took place within in kindergarten room of the institution. Study participants were four blind children, six and seven years in an institution that assists visually impaired people in the city of Uberaba / MG, and their mothers and the teacher responsible for the room in which they study. During the workshops, the children showed interest in participating in the activities of reading and writing in Braille. We believe that the data built during the research are not sufficient to establish a generalization, due to the small number of participants. However, at the end of the workshops and the assessment of participants' responses can infer the relevance of the proposal, because in addition to the interest shown and the request of the children there were more activities like that, it was noticed greater fluency in reading and greater ease in writing.

O bibliotecário como mediador no processo de transferência da informação para pessoas com deficiência visual

MAIA, Maria Aniolly Queiroz et al. O bibliotecário como mediador no processo de transferência da informação para pessoas com deficiência visual. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE BIBLIOTECONOMIA, 24., DOCUMENTAÇÃO E CIÊNCIA DA INFORMAÇÃO, 2011, Maceió. Anais... Maceió: CBBD, 2011

Conception, développement et validation expérimentale d’une boussole haptique

Ce mémoire présente la conception, le contrôle et la validation expérimentale d’une boussole haptique servant à diriger les utilisateurs aux prises avec une déficience visuelle, et ce, dans tous les environnements. La revue de littérature décrit le besoin pour un guidage haptique et permet de mettre en perspective cette technologie dans le marché actuel. La boussole proposée utilise le principe de couples asymétriques. Son design est basé sur une architecture de moteur à entraînement direct et un contrôle en boucle ouverte étalonné au préalable. Cette conception permet d’atteindre une vaste plage de fréquences pour la rétroaction haptique. Les propriétés mécaniques de l’assemblage sont évaluées. Puis, l’étalonnage des couples permet d’assurer que le contrôle en boucle ouverte produit des couples avec une précision suffisante. Un premier test avec des utilisateurs a permis d’identifier que les paramètres de fréquence entre 5 et 15 Hz combinés avec des couples au-delà de 40 mNm permettent d’atteindre une efficacité intéressante pour la tâche. L’expérience suivante démontre qu’utiliser une rétroaction haptique proportionnelle à l’erreur d’orientation améliore significativement les performances. Le concept est ensuite éprouvé avec dix-neuf sujets qui doivent se diriger sur un parcours avec l’aide seule de cette boussole haptique. Les résultats montrent que tous les sujets ont réussi à rencontrer tous les objectifs de la route, tout en maintenant des déviations latérales relativement faibles (0:39 m en moyenne). Les performances obtenues et les impressions des utilisateurs sont prometteuses et plaident en faveur de ce dispositif. Pour terminer, un modèle simplifié du comportement d’un individu pour la tâche d’orientation est développé et démontre l’importance de la personnalisation de l’appareil. Ce modèle est ensuite utilisé pour mettre en valeur la stratégie d’horizon défilant pour le placement de la cible intermédiaire actuelle dans un parcours sur une longue distance.

Percepción de estudiantes con discapacidad visual sobre sus competencias digitales en una universidad pública del sureste de México

En este artículo nuestro objetivo fue indagar la percepción de estudiantes universitarios con discapacidad visual (ECDV) acerca del desarrollo de sus competencias digitales. Participaron en el estudio los diez ECDV inscritos en programas de licenciatura en el ciclo 2014-02. Evaluamos el avance que perciben los estudiantes en competencias digitales relacionadas con el aprendizaje social y colaborativo, la búsqueda y tratamiento de la información, el desarrollo de relaciones interpersonales en el contexto universitario, y el uso de herramientas virtuales y de comunicación social de la universidad. Los resultados sugieren que, a excepción de aquellas referentes a las relaciones interpersonales, los ECDV perciben poco adelanto en sus competencias digitales. Con una prueba Anova de medidas repetidas, determinamos que la percepción de los ECDV sobre las competencias digitales concernientes a las relaciones interpersonales es significativamente mayor que la que reportan en las otras competencias. Concluimos que los ECDV no perciben una mejora en sus competencias digitales, en particular las de aprendizaje social y colaborativo, así como el uso de herramientas digitales.

Playing with sound and gesture in digital audio games

This article introduces the genre of a digital audio game and discusses selected play interaction solutions implemented in the Audio Game Hub, a prototype designed and evaluated in the years 2014 and 2015 at the Gamification Lab at Leuphana University Lüneburg.1 The Audio Game Hub constitutes a set of familiar playful activities (aiming at a target, reflex-based reacting to sound signals, labyrinth exploration) and casual games (e.g. Tetris, Memory) adapted to the digital medium and converted into the audio sphere, where the player is guided predominantly or solely by sound. The authors will discuss the design questions raised at early stages of the project, and confront them with the results of user experience testing performed on two groups of sighted and one group of visually impaired gamers.

Creating Structured PDF Files Using XML Templates

This paper describes a tool for recombining the logical structure from an XML document with the typeset appearance of the corresponding PDF document. The tool uses the XML representation as a template for the insertion of the logical structure into the existing PDF document, thereby creating a Structured/Tagged PDF. The addition of logical structure adds value to the PDF in three ways: the accessibility is improved (PDF screen readers for visually impaired users perform better), media options are enhanced (the ability to reflow PDF documents, using structure as a guide, makes PDF viable for use on hand-held devices) and the re-usability of the PDF documents benefits greatly from the presence of an XML-like structure tree to guide the process of text retrieval in reading order (e.g. when interfacing to XML applications and databases).