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Coping and blindness: a study of the strategies of coping of blind and visually handicapped adolescents.
Focus: School Years
Topic: Inclusive Education
Carmen Calvo-Novell
Psychologist at the C.R.E. Espíritu Santo.
ONCE (Spanish National Organisation of the Blind)
ALICANTE
Apartado de Correos, 399
SPAIN
Phone Number: 96 526 70 00.
E-Mail: itl@once.es
INTRODUCTION
Here we present the pilot study of research carried out on the strategies of dealing with blindness and visual impairment most often used by adolescents in their social relationships and on the efficiency of these strategies.
Subject history: Adolescent coping has usually only been studied in cases when either adolescents had suffered some kind of trauma, either because of chronic physical illness or for having committed high risk actions, such as suicide attempts, brought about by psychological reasons.
Research on the coping strategies developed by blind people has mainly been carried out with individuals who had recently acquired a condition of blindness or serious visual impairment. Some of these studies highlight in particular the importance of self-efficiency and mobility (Beggs, 1992), whereas other studies focus on the evaluation of psychological factors with the aim of predicting the success or lack of success of rehabilitation programs (Dodds et al., 1991)
In Western civilisation, adolescence is the stage of human evolutionary development that involves the most dramatic changes, to such extent that it has been put on the same level as the stage of birth, due to the intense changes experienced by the adolescent. This is the stage of human development that brings about, among other outcomes, the deepest identity crisis (Van der Zanden, 1990), during which the perception of the self is challenged to a point in which a whole new personal identity starts to develop: taking part in the process of learning the rules of adult life, learning to relate to others in an independent and autonomous manner, and gradually becoming more self-conscious. It is the stage of friends and peers, who help the individual create the feeling of belonging, cooperation, binding to the group, self-esteem and identification.
Blindness and visual impairment create a barrier as well as a situation of passive behaviour that causes boys and girls who suffer from them become dependent on others. They are always expecting others to lead and take decisions for fear of being rejected. They feel they always have to show they are capable and that their errors are "forgiven" because they are blind. This is what some of our teenagers have declared.
Their level of self-esteem is usually lower, due to the fact that they need specific items that continuously display their stigmas (such as canes, glasses, monocle lenses, folding tables, Braille reading, and so on). These necessities create in them a feeling of disability and dependence, to such a degree that it makes them wonder to which group they really belong (Calvo, 1995) and are bound to: the group of the sighted or the one that establishes the differences?
In a study of the social adaptation difficulties of blind individuals, Davidson (1975) had reached the conclusion that some teenagers were isolated from their sighted peers. S. Fraiberg (1977) details the difficulties encountered by blind children when trying to build a perception of themselves. Likewise, Verdugo and Caballo (1995) refer to the sensorial handicaps that negatively affect the development of the individual's self-conception.
These difficulties result in these individuals finding themselves immersed in slightly stressful daily situations, but this stress is also accumulative (Cohen and Lazarus, 1979).
Research has been carried out in previous years (Van Hasselt, 1981; Calvo, 1986; Calvo and Saez, 1995, among others) which has reached the conclusion that there is a need for blind students to be given social skills education. Other authors (Díaz Agudo, 1995; Verdugo and Caballo, 1999) see this training as the opening key to social relationships, or in other words, by learning the skills of social behaviour social competence will increase and blind students will then feel themselves more integrated within the world of the sighted.
Observation carried out on blind teenagers relating to each other within a group that shares the same visual impairments shows that they are socially skilled, use the normal language for their age and situation (including both frivolity and seriousness) and function as normally as any group of teenagers. However, there is something subjacent to social relationships that halts interaction between blind boys and girls when it comes to sharing their spare time outside academic activities.
In view of this, some questions arise: Why do these kids display a passive social attitude when they relate within a group of sighted individuals, when they seldom show any passivity at all within a group of fellow blind individuals? Why do they not apply the same social competency and skills in any group they find themselves relating with? Are the preoccupations about social acceptance of blindness and the perception they hold of themselves the factors that negatively influence their social attitude? Or are the strategies they employ to confront the problems caused by their blindness what really determines the differences?
Taking all of this into consideration, the proposed objectives of this research are twofold:
Coping is defined by Cohen & Lazarus (1979) as a set of cognitive and behavioural efforts that are developed in order to handle those external and/or internal demands which are evaluated as excessive or overwhelming in relation to the individual's resources.
The overwhelming evaluations include three different concepts: harm or loss, threat and challenge. The first, harm or loss, includes the following situations: injuries, handicaps and real family and financial loss. Threat would include possible loss and damages while the third concept (challenge) includes the ability to overcome difficulties as long as the necessary energy and strength is used.
This research study is based upon this model.
METHODOLOGY
Design: descriptive analysis, including the random selection of representative samples of three study groups.
Subjects:
1.- Blind adolescents, aged 14 to 17 years old, students of Secondary Education - Integrated Education programmes.
2.- Blind adolescents of equivalent age, students of Secondary Education in specific centres.
3.- Sighted adolescents, same ages, students of Secondary Education.
The total sample includes 32 subjects, 16 from the group of blind individuals, of which 8 are from the first group and 8 from the second, plus 16 from the group of sighted individuals.
Twenty-six individuals are male and six are female. However, gender has no relevance for this research.
Sighted individuals belong to the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Benidorm School in Alicante.
This research considers as blind all those affiliates to the ONCE (Spanish National Organisation of the Blind) who in their everyday activities need to make use of socially stigmatised items, such as Braille material, canes, monocles, folding tables and so on. In other words, the totally blind, as well as visually handicapped individuals, as long as they are in need of these items.
Variables and instruments:
Daily, several days per week except weekends,
Weekends and pre-holiday days,
Monthly: two or three times per month,
Yearly: two or three times per year.
Procedures
Pencil and paper, print material transcribed into Braille for self-administration. Measurements were carried out collectively for sighted students and students from specific centres, and individually for students of integrated education programmes.
A descriptive analysis of the frequencies and differences is also carried out.
Table 1
|
Dimension |
S |
B |
B. I.E. |
B. S.C |
|
Brother/Sister: |
12, 5% |
12,6% |
25% |
0% |
|
Parents: |
6,3% |
12,5% |
0% |
25% |
|
Friends: |
25% |
31,3% |
37,5% |
25% |
|
Keep to o.s.: |
12,6% |
43,8% |
25% |
62,5% |
|
Professional. |
6,3% |
12,6% |
0% |
12,5% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strong action: |
31% |
50,1% |
62,5% |
37,5% |
|
No avoidance: |
68,8% |
68,8% |
75% |
62,5% |
|
Hedonism: |
37,5% |
50,1% |
50% |
50% |
Social attitude
|
Dimension |
S |
B |
B. I.E. |
B. S.C |
|
Socially Correct: |
|
|
|
|
|
- Antisocial |
31,3% |
25% |
12,5% |
37,5% |
|
- Prosocial |
56,3% |
56,3% |
50% |
62,5% |
|
Social sensitivity.: |
|
|
|
|
|
- Antisocial |
50% |
12,5 |
25% |
O% |
|
- Prosocial |
50% |
81,3% |
62,5% |
100% |
Help,collaboration |
|
|
|
|
|
- Antisocial |
50% |
18,8% |
25% |
12,5% |
|
- Prosocial |
50% |
75% |
62,5 |
87,5% |
Interact.confidence |
|
|
|
|
|
- Asocial |
62,5% |
50% |
25% |
75% |
|
- Prosocial |
25% |
43,8% |
62,5% |
25% |
Aggressiveness |
|
|
|
|
|
- Antisocial |
25% |
31,3% |
50% |
12,5% |
|
- Prosocial |
75% |
62,5% |
37,5% |
87,5% |
Dominance |
|
|
|
|
|
-Antisocial |
18,8% |
25% |
25% |
25% |
|
- Prosocial |
75% |
68,8% |
62,5% |
75% |
Apathy-Reserve |
|
|
|
|
|
- Asocial |
43, 8% |
31,3% |
37,5% |
25% |
|
- Prosocial |
56,3% |
56,3% |
37,5% |
75% |
Anxiety |
|
|
|
|
|
- Asocial |
43,8% |
31,3% |
12,5% |
50% |
|
- Prosocial |
56,3% |
62,5% |
75% |
50% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Behaviour |
|
|
|
|
|
Antisocial |
35% |
22,5% |
27,5% |
17,5% |
|
Asocial |
50% |
37,5% |
25% |
50% |
|
Prosocial |
55,48% |
63,31% |
56,9% |
58,3% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parents: |
|
|
|
|
|
Authoritarian: |
56,3% |
12,5% |
12,5% |
12,5% |
|
Democratic: |
31,3% |
62,5% |
62,5% |
62,5% |
Social skills
|
Dimension |
S |
B |
B. I.E. |
B.S.C. |
|
Self-expression |
12,6% |
68,8% |
87,5% |
50% |
|
Express disagreement |
43,8% |
50% |
62,5% |
37,5% |
|
Say NO |
66,3% |
56,3% |
50% |
62,5% |
|
Make requests |
37,6% |
62,5% |
62,5% |
62,5% |
|
Interaction with the other sex |
18,8% |
62,6% |
87,5% |
37,5% |
|
Dimension |
S |
B |
B I.E. |
B. S.C. |
|
Academic: |
56,3% |
68,5% |
42,5% |
50% |
|
Social: |
43,8% |
50% |
62,5% |
37,5% |
|
Emotional: |
56% |
87,6% |
100% |
75% |
|
Familiar: |
62,5% |
87,6% |
100% |
62% |
|
Physical: |
68,8% |
43,8% |
50% |
37% |
Social contact
|
Dimension |
S |
B |
B. I.E. |
B. S.C. |
|
Daily |
43,8% |
12,5% |
25% |
Resid. |
|
Weekly |
37,5% |
25% |
37% |
|
|
Monthly |
12,5% |
31,3% |
12% |
50% |
|
Yearly |
0% |
31% |
25% |
38% |
S.= Sighted
B.= Blind
B. I.E.= Blind from Integrated Education Programmes
B. C E= Blind from Specific CentreIn light of the results obtained, we are in a position to say that sighted and blind individuals implement, with minor differences, the same Coping Strategies (Table 1) when the items are closed.
Sighted and blind individuals who study under the integrated education programme use brothers and sisters as confidants or when they need help. However, blind subjects from specific centres rely more on their parents when seeking help. Both groups also turn to friends but 75% of the blind subjects are older than them. Among the blind subjects, 46% keep their problems to themselves compared to just 12.6% of sighted participants. Subjects from specific centres also turn more often to professionals than the sighted participants.
Blind individuals also engage more in strong positive action and hedonistic positive action: 51% in both strategies compared with 31% and 37.5% respectively for sighted individuals (the authors of the questionnaire use the term "hedonistic" to reflect, among others, relaxed, distracted or dreamy strategies). Both groups of blind and sighted individuals do not resort to avoidance as a form of Coping strategy.
As for Social Attitude (Table 2), the group of blind subjects show themselves as more prosocial in their conducts than sighted subjects, especially when it comes to social sensitivity, help and cooperation: the blind subjects from the specific centres reach 100% on the first dimension and 87.5 on the second. Both groups perceive themselves as being socially correct.
Blind individuals display more confidence in their interactions. This fact can be interpreted as follows: seeing that the blind individuals do not have much contact with sighted friends, interactions with the latter are highly regarded.
When it comes to the dimension of interpersonal relationships dominance, a narrow difference can be observed in favour of the sighted individuals. No percentage difference is detected in the Apathy-Reserve dimension, and as for Anxiety, prosocial blind show higher percentage.
The group of blind individuals also perceive their parents to be less authoritarian than the group of sighted individuals.
In reference to the Social Skills self-report (Table 3), the group of blind individuals display higher capacity for self-expression than the sighted, and they are also more assertive when making requests. They also do not cause conflicts in their interactions with the other sex (72%), compared to the sighted's 18.8%.
In regard to the Say No dimension, the group of sighted individuals display better skills than the blind.
The academic, emotional, social and familiar Self-concept (Table 4) display the highest level of results, but this is not so for physical self-concept, a result that concurs with research carried out by López Justicia, Fernández de Haro, Amezcua Membrilla and Pichardo (2000).
In the Social Contact questionnaire results (Table 5), we find that 31% of blind adolescents in the sample go out with boys of their same age two or three times per year, a similar percentage go out two or three times per month and only 25% go out on weekends with younger boys, although the majority of these are friends of their brothers, cousins and sons of their parents' friends (including students of integrated education programmes).
The most important conclusion reached so far, and which meets the objective no. 1 set, is that, by and large, the group of blind boys and girls self-assess as socially very capable and competent individuals. However, this contrasts with the results shown in Table 5 (Social Contact), where we can appreciate how minimal their contact is with groups of their same age.
As for objective no 2, following the model introduced at the beginning of this research, we find that real visual loss causes them to feel threatened within the world of the sighted. The general coping strategy of the group subject of this study is to make cognitive efforts, but they do not make behavioural efforts in order to implement their cognitive beliefs. There is a clear discordance between intrapersonal and interpersonal self-concept.
Omar, (Stress and Coping, 1995) comments that focalised strategies in awareness, cognitive prevention and sense of control, as well as having high-level self-esteem resources may increase the individual's readjusting capacity.
As stated by Lazarus and Folkman (1986), the blind individuals in the study sample make use of cognitive, psychological and self-control resources.
These may be effective for safeguarding purposes but not for instigating interpersonal relationships with sighted peers.
Finally, we would like to point out that this research has its limitations, for it is just a preliminary study. However, the results obtained appear to us as being very interesting and further in-depth research should then be carried out using samples of blind and sighted individuals from different parts of the country.
PSYCHOSOCIAL PROPOSAL
It would be convenient to create groups formed by blind and sighted adolescents featuring the most often implemented coping strategies. Also, researching the efficiency (or lack of it) of those resources and going more deeply on the issues of coherence regarding behavioural aspects, self-concept, self-esteem and social support (Sabina Kef, 2002), as all of these aspects hold positive effects for psychosocial adjustment.
BIOGRAFHICAL DATA SHEET
Title of paper/poster: Coping and blindness: A study of the strategies of coping of blind and visually handicapped adolescents
Reference number PS: 3786
Attention area: Transition
Subject: Mainstreaming education
Name: Carmen Calvo-Novell
She has a degree in Psychology from the Autonomous University in Madrid and a Programme of Doctorate in the Department of Health Psychology in the Faculty of Medicine of Miguel Hernández University in Elche.
Since 1975 she has worked as a Psychologist in different Centers of Early Stimulation and Special Education in Alicante. She was Director of the Provincial Center for Children with Autism (Alicante) in 1983. Since 1985 she works as a Psychologist in the O.N.C.E. Educational Resource Center “Espíritu Santo” in Alicante.
She has published some works about blindness: Social skills; Handicaps associated to the visual impairment; Families of blind and visually impaired people; Social Support Groups; Sex education for blind and visually impaired adolescents with other handicaps associated; Psycopedagogical assessment. Strategies to think: how to learn to think. Her professional interest is centered in all subjects related to these publications.
Concerning her personal interests, her ambition to be a singer has not been possible and she has had to use all her possible strategies to face the reality of her voice.
AUDIOVISUAL FORM
Name: Carmen Calvo-Novell
Paper / poster: Coping and blidness: a study of strategies of coping of blind and visuallyhandicapped adolescents.
PS Reference number: 3786
Focus Area: Transition
Topic:
I will require the following audio-visual equipment form my session. I understand it is my duty to check that the equipment is in place and is in working order before my session begins.
1. Overhead Projector (OHP)
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