Talking about vision is much more complex than talking about the eyes. The visual system is a functional unit formed by the eyes, optical pathways and the brain. An organic or functional alteration in any of these three levels will cause visual impairment.
The visually impaired population is very diverse. The pathology can manifest itself in different degrees, from low moderate or severe vision, to blindness. In order to provide good learnings, it is necessary to know the severity of each student.
Low vision
Low vision can affect different aspects: the visual field (spatial amplitude that embraces vision), visual acuity (ability to discriminate details in relation to a certain distance) and sensitivity to color and/or contrast.
A person with low vision may have difficulty seeing from near or far. Depending on the ocular pathology, he/she could have better day vision or better night vision, also blurred or partial vision.
Depending on the cause of the pathology, in the limitations in sharpness and/or visual field can be added other effects such as: glare, alterations in the perception of colors…
The group with low vision is very heterogeneous. Each person resolves differently his visual functionality, although the ophthalmologist diagnosis is the same. Children with low vision need visual training from an early age to achieve maximum efficiency of their vision potential.
Blindness
A person is blind when he/she does not distinguish light from darkness, or only has perception of light.
People who suffer from blindness need to capture spaces in parts, analyze their elements to realize their globality. They use other senses to make a composition of the reality (tend to prioritize touch and hearing).
In the case of blindness, it will be necessary to consider whether the etiology is congenital or acquired. This variable will determine differential characteristics in the processes of mental representation of reality. If they have seen before the pathology, they will have ability to make mental images with visual components.
Boix Hernández, S., Codina Mir, M., Corbella Roqueta, M.T., Miret Serra, J., Solé Torné, A., Tapia Martín, I. (2012). Estratègies per a la inclusió de l'alumnat amb discapacitat visual.
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