| CODE | IAL2018 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Technologies for Indusion in the School and in the Community for the Blind and Partially Sighted | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Inclusion and Access to Learning | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | As in the case of disability, blindness is rather complex to define. It tends to be defined in medical terms, which tend to be meaningful only to the medical professionals, with little or no understanding about the lived experiences of blind people themselves. This study-unit therefore will be providing a detailed insight of what life is like living with visual impairment. It will start by providing the different perception of blindness throughout history, ranging from beliefs held in Classical times to date. This study-unit will also be providing insight to the students of the lived experiences of blind people in modern society on various aspects of live, including education, employment, intimate relationships, and the media. Additionally, it will also provide ways in removing disabling barriers, plus an insight on legal obligations of the state to ensure that the rights of blind persons are safeguarded and upheld, including when it comes to independent living. The United Nations Conventions for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) recognises the importance of independent living for persons with disability, which also includes those affected with some form or another of vision loss. The ultimate goal of independent living has to do with empowerment, in the sense that persons with disability can make decisions on their own on matters directly impacting their lives, to be able to participate actively in society, and by implication by bringing out the best of their potential. Thus, this study-unit will be emphasizing in particular on various aspects of independent living for blind people. It will be providing some basic knowledge of Braille, besides that it will be covering in some length on the various forms of assertive technologies as well as mobility tools (namely the white stick and the guide dog). This study-unit will also enter in depth on techniques used in guiding blind people, besides a detailed insight into proper disability etiquette. This study-unit will discuss how such assistive devices could be beneficial to other students who might not be visually impaired but have other learning difficulties. This study-unit will also discuss might have other impairments apart from visual impairment. Study-unit Aims: This study-unit will present a detailed insight into the world of persons with visual impairment and aims to introduce students to knowledge about the world of the blind. It also aims to give students skills to adapt and augment the learning environment to help student with visual impairment to benefit from their learning experience. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Explain in some detail insights on perception of blindness from a cultural point of view, including the use of language, and cultural representation of blind people in the media; • List the stereotypical misconceptions about blindness, and their impact on blind people in various aspects of lives; • Identify solutions aimed to remove societal barriers, and full inclusion of blind people in mainstream society; • State the role that assistive technology and mobility aids play in facilitating independent living for blind persons. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Read and interpret simple instructions and directions in Braille; • Adapt instruction by using adapted methods to access print; • Augment and interpret instruction with additional meaningful experiences; • Apply assistive technology; • Write a child's profile after observation at home, school, work and in the community. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main text - Spungin, S. (Consulting Editor) (2002). When you have a visually impaired student in your classroom: a guide to teachers. New York: AFB Press. Supplementary texts - Bishop,V.E. (1996). Teaching visually impaired children (2nd edition). Springfield, IL:Thomas. - To send a Braille message to someone you know: HTTP://WWW.HOTBRAILLE.COM/ - La Grow, S. & Daye,P (2005), Barriers to Employment Identified by Blind and Vision-Impaired Persons in New Zealand, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, Retrieved from www.questia.com/read/1G1-139910765/barriers-to-employment-identified-by-blind-and-vision-impaired. - Bolt, D. (2006), Beneficial Blindness: Literary Representation and the So-Called Positive Stereotyping of People with Impaired Vision, New Zealand Journal of Disability Studies. - Deal, M. (2003), Disabled people's attitudes toward other impairment groups: Ahierarchy of impairments, Disability & Society, 18(7), 897-910. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Joe Cauchi Ninette Pace Balzan |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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