Abstract:

Research shows that Zagreb’s elementary schools with previous experience in inclusion of visually impaired student aren’t more accessible in terms of adjustments made for orientation and mobility. Some orientation and mobility adjustments (e.g. adjustable light, glare control, contrast, large and Braille print) aren’t only used for mobility but are also an integral part of learning activities in an educational setting. It is important for all professionals working with visually impaired children in schools to be familiar with ways of making their educational needs meet. If a student cannot access different learning materials, handouts, textbooks or notes on the board due to glare or excessive lightning, or access classrooms with lectures (because he gets lost on the way and then teased by peers) the likelihood of him achieving his academic goals in inclusive educational setting is threatened. The aim of this paper is to determine how different are the assessments of special education teachers, speech and language therapists and pedagogues of regular elementary schools’ inaccessibility causes in the City of Zagreb for visually impaired students’ orientation and mobility. The questionnaire (with demographic general question and 12 statement about causes of inaccessibility on 5-point Liker) scale was completed and analyzed for 63 professionals using descriptive statistic and MANOVA multivariate analysis. The results show no statistical difference between the three professional groups with Pillai’s Trace = .443, F = 1.185, df = (100,000), p = .274. All groups agree the biggest causes for inaccessibility are financial questions regarding adjustment and knowledge about students’ needs in education. Further research is needed to determine why no differences were show, especially since special education teacher in Croatia gain knowledge about adjustments for visually impaired in schools through their higher education and would be expected of them to have higher knowledge the other two groups.

Keywords:

Elementary school, visual impairment, inaccessibility, professionals.