| dc.description.abstract | The problem of disability is not a new one,
for as long as man has been living on earth, there
has always been some individuals with limited physical
and mental abilities
Review of literature, reveals that there has
been alot of research work done on the self-perceptions
of such individuals in the western countries, whereas,
there has been very little research done with the
handicapped in Africa and more so in Kenyao It is
with this in mind that the present study was carried
out to find out how the blind children perceive
themselves and their abilities"
A questionnaire was constructed by the researcher
and administered to 40 blind children a~ed 9-14 years
from 2 schools for the blind in Kisumu area of Western
Kenyao The questionnaire was also administered to
40 non-blind children of similar age-range from 2
ordinary primary schools in the same areao The
catchment area for the schools used in the study
encompasses, Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza provinces
of Kenya.
The questionnaire contained items that
elicited self-perception of the subjects with regard
to their ability to learn, ability to socialise,
physical appearance, physical ability, initiativeness
and attitutde towards integration. The
questionnaire also contained items that measured
socio-economic status of the subjects.
The collected data was statistically analysed
using descriptive statistic, 2-way analysis of
variance and the Pearson-product correlation.
Self-Perception was used to refer to the way in
which a person views himself and his abilities.
The words, self-concept and self-perception were
used interchangeably in the study.
The results showed the mean score for most of
the self-perceptions to be higher for the blind
subjects than for the non-blind subjects. Analysis
of variance showed some of the differences to be
significant, for example, significant differences
were observed between the self-perception of the
blind and the non-blind children in their attitude
towards integration. Differences in perception
between the blind boys and blind girls were not
observed, whereas, significant differences were
observed between the perceptions o~ non-blind
girls and those of non-blind boys. The Pearsonproduct
correlation coefficient(r) was calculated
to find out the relationship between the subjects'
self-perceptions and their socio-economic status
(SES). For the blind subjects, positive correlation
was observed between their self-perceptions and SES,
except with the blind girls where a negative
correlation was observed between their perception of
ability to socialise and socio-economic status.
Positive correlation was also observed between the
self-perceptions of non-blind subjects and their
socio-economic status.
These results have implications to the curriculum
developers, and the policy makers in special
education as well as the blind children themselves.
Significant differences in self-perceptions of the
blind and non-blind children, should indicate to
the policy makers and curriculum developers in
special education that it is necessary to have
special training for the people working with blind
children. It is also necessary to design an
appropriate curriculum for teaching them which
should take into consideration the Psycho-social
development of the blind children. For the blind
children, this study will help to create an
awareness of what they think of themselves and
their abilities. The results will also educate
the other members of society on the ability of
the blind and it will also help the society to
learn to consider blind children as individuals,
each with his/her own personality, talents and
abilities. This is very important for the
integration and acceptance of blind children into
their societies. | en |
