A Study on Blind Students Experience of Provision and Support in Schools

This is a qualitative study which aims to investigate what blind students experience to be appropriate provision and support in schools. In order to explore the answer, this study examined the proper terms that could be used in educational researches, difficulties that a blind student encountered in study, provision and support that were provided to them in schools, what they considered to be appropriate provision and support for facilitating their study, challenges with the practices and suggestions for improvements. Three totally blind people were invited to participate in this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. All interviews were transcripbed for data analysis. Result showed that the bind students experienced difficulties at three different levels including physical/medical limitations, environmental limitations and they needed extra support on their study. Finding in this study showed that the informants received certain types of provision and support from the government and schools, including guide dogs, long canes, computers, audio programmes, training on compter skills and some one-to-one teaching sections. However, result also indicated that challenges of the practices tended to come from three different levels. At the individual level, the informants experienced a lack of training and support on orientation and mobility. At the teachers level, there was a lack of teacher training and the teachers had little kwonledge and skills to support blind students in schools. At the decison-making level, the informants experienced some mismatches between what they actual needed and the provision and support that being provided. In the end, the informants suggested that blind students should be invited to participate in desicion-making events, their voice should be heard and they wanted to be decision-makers for their education. Potential implications of this study are that: First, for researchers, educators, and parents to learn what kind of difficulties blind students experience in study. So they will understand when they should provide help and support to a blind student. Second, this study shows some good practices of supporting blind students. These practices can be piloted and expended so that more blind students can be supported to tackle the difficulties they have in study. Third, this study presents a model of how to involve blind people into an educational research. The last, the findings from this study might influence policymakers when they decide provision, support and education for blind students in futhure