ABSTRACT

                                                                        Profa. Dra. Maria Inês Nobre

                                                                        Profa. Dra. Edméa Rita Temporini

                                                                        Profa. Dra. Rita de Cássia I. Montilha

Prof. Dr. Newton Kara-José

Center of Study and Research in Rehabilitation (CEPRE) – University of Campinas, Brasil.

IDENTIFICATION OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN: PERCEPTION AND MOTHER’S BEHAVIOR

Objective: Investigate the characteristics, perceptions of the mothers of visually impaired children.

Method: Transversal descriptive survey. A non-probabilistic sample was taken from an  ophtalmologic screning during the “ Olho no Olho”/2000 campaign. A form was submitted during the interview.

Results: The sample consisted of 48 mothers of visually impaired children identified during the campaign. 91,7% stated that they had been to school, althought just 2,1% had completed fundamental schooling. As far as occupational categories were concerned, non-specialized manual services (76,4%) were predominant among the mothers. Just 37,5% of the mothers had been a ware of the existence of visual problems before the campaing. The mothers reported difficulty in the educational progress in 79,2%, of the cases due to the children’s visual problems.

Conclusion: This study highighted the importance of the “Olho no Olho” campaign or similar visual screening projects.

ICEVI 2002