THE ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION IN CHILDREN WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

Abstract

Abstract Being able to move freely requires acknowledgment of one's surroundings. For blind people, to acknowledge means to understand space that enables free movement. Unfortunately, not enough attention is paid to concepts of space and researchers focus on use of various technical tools which assist blind people to move more freely. The primary aim of this study was to establish level of development of spatial orientation within an enclosed, familiar area, used as place of residence for children with a high level of visual impairment. The sample consisted of 67 primary school-aged children of both sexes. The test used was Test for Assessment of Level of Development of Spatial Orientation within a Familiar, Enclosed Space, by Semenov L.A. Results show that evaluated children had difficulties with spatial orientation in a familiar space and that best results were obtained in tasks involving a static sound orienteer. Key words: spatial orientation, children with visual impairments, level of development (ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) Introduction Space is ordinate we use, along with notions of time and entity, to define existential field and mental development. Layers of space consist of subjective space, area of body motions and objective space. Objective space is space outside an entity, distant or available space. It is only with decentralization of thought, along with possibility of perspective that, according to Bojanin (1), the relation to outer space starts to play a real role in spontaneous activities and organized motions. The process of orientation engages senses to determine one's position in relation to surrounding objects, while orientation at a distance represents ability to keep basic direction in order to travel from point A to point B (2). Orientation and mobility are inter-dependable: orientation is used for introduction and estimation while mobility is used for managing space. Lowenfeld according to Zigic, (3) argues that mobility consists of two components - mental organization and body locomotion. Mental organization is ability to recognize surroundings, temporal and spatial relation, while locomotion represents ability to move from one place to another. This implies that mental organization and motion make for inter-dependability of main notions of mobility. If a blind person is able to move, but unable to orientate, he/she will not be able to move within an area. At same time, if this person is able to orientate, but is not mobile, he/she will also not be able to move efficiently. Suterko according to Stanimirovic, (4) claims that a person has to be oriented toward a goal before there is mobility toward that goal, while mobility includes movements and motoric skills, such as lowering leg, placing leg on floor-as part of linear movement, proper heel and toe placement, movements forward and body control (balance control and control over centre of gravitation), ability to predict a possible descent or elevation of floor level, etc. Auditory perception is essential in spatial orientation of people with a high degree of visual impairments, because it is used to localize sounds and changes in environment. Research in wide spaces has shown that reliable information from another source, for example an auditory one, can improve one's estimation of location and direction. Morrongiello at all. (5) claimed that sound signals can help with solving spatial problems, both for blind children and control group of children who had their eyes covered, but impact was much more noticeable with blind children. Visually impaired one year olds are mature enough to walk. Still, walking usually does not happen at that age. Fraiberg (6) thinks that child has nothing to be driven to, because it does not yet acknowledge existence of outer world. …