The Competence of Teacher Assistants in the Context of Working with Visually Impaired Students. Needs of the Environment and the Vision of Change

The text contains an analysis of the competence of a special education teacher, with particular emphasis on the competence of one working as a teacher assistant with blind and visually impaired students. It attempts to answer the question of what competence a teacher assistant should have. On the one hand, this competence must be a response to the current needs of students with visual impairments, their teachers and parents. In line with the current approach to inclusive education, the teacher assistant who works with visually impaired students should be equipped with a whole array of competences, especially a number of highly specialised ones. On the other hand, taking into account e.g. creative and ethical competences, universities educating future teachers of the kind are not able to equip graduates with full competences.The text contains an analysis of the competence of a special education teacher, with particular emphasis on the competence of one working as a teacher assistant with blind and visually impaired students. It attempts to answer the question of what competence a teacher assistant should have. On the one hand, this competence must be a response to the current needs of students with visual impairments, their teachers and parents. In line with the current approach to inclusive education, the teacher assistant who works with visually impaired students should be equipped with a whole array of competences, especially a number of highly specialised ones. On the other hand, taking into account e.g. creative and ethical competences, universities educating future teachers of the kind are not able to equip graduates with full competences

Tactile to visual number priming in the left intraparietal cortex of sighted Braille readers

Numbers can be presented in different notations and sensory modalities. It is currently debated to what extent these formats overlap onto a single representation. We asked whether such an overlap exists between symbolic numbers represented in two sensory modalities: Arabic digits and Braille numbers. A unique group of sighted Braille readers underwent extensive Braille reading training and was tested in an fMRI repetition-suppression paradigm with tactile Braille digit primes and visual Arabic digit targets. Our results reveal cross-modal priming: compared to repetition of two different quantities (e.g., Braille "5" and Arabic "2"), repetition of the same quantity presented in two modalities (e.g., Braille "5" and Arabic "5") led to a reduction of activation in several sub-regions of the Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS), a key cortical region for magnitude processing. Thus, in sighted Braille readers, the representations of numbers read by sight and by touch overlap to a degree sufficient to cause repetition suppression. This effect was modulated by the numerical prime-probe distance. Altogether this indicates that the left parietal cortex hosts neural assemblies that are sensitive to numerical information from different notations (number words or Arabic digits) and modalities (tactile and visual)

Structural reorganization of the early visual cortex following Braille training in sighted adults

Training can induce cross-modal plasticity in the human cortex. A well-known example of this phenomenon is the recruitment of visual areas for tactile and auditory processing. It remains unclear to what extent such plasticity is associated with changes in anatomy. Here we enrolled 29 sighted adults into a nine-month tactile Braille-reading training, and used voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging to describe the resulting anatomical changes. In addition, we collected resting-state fMRI data to relate these changes to functional connectivity between visual and somatosensory-motor cortices. Following Braille-training, we observed substantial grey and white matter reorganization in the anterior part of early visual cortex (peripheral visual field). Moreover, relative to its posterior, foveal part, the peripheral representation of early visual cortex had stronger functional connections to somatosensory and motor cortices even before the onset of training. Previous studies show that the early visual cortex can be functionally recruited for tactile discrimination, including recognition of Braille characters. Our results demonstrate that reorganization in this region induced by tactile training can also be anatomical. This change most likely reflects a strengthening of existing connectivity between the peripheral visual cortex and somatosensory cortices, which suggests a putative mechanism for cross-modal recruitment of visual areas

Functional hierarchy for tactile processing in the visual cortex of sighted adults

Perception via different sensory modalities was traditionally believed to be supported by largely separate brain systems. However, a growing number of studies demonstrate that the visual cortices of typical, sighted adults are involved in tactile and auditory perceptual processing. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of the visual cortex’s involvement in a complex tactile task: Braille letter recognition. Sighted subjects underwent Braille training and then participated in a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study in which they tactually identified single Braille letters. During this task, TMS was applied to their left early visual cortex, visual word form area (VWFA), and left early somatosensory cortex at five time windows from 20 to 520 ms following the Braille letter presentation’s onset. The subjects’ response accuracy decreased when TMS was applied to the early visual cortex at the 120–220 ms time window and when TMS was applied to the VWFA at the 320–420 ms time window. Stimulation of the early somatosensory cortex did not have a time-specific effect on the accuracy of the subjects’ Braille letter recognition, but rather caused a general slowdown during this task. Our results indicate that the involvement of sighted people’s visual cortices in tactile perception respects the canonical visual hierarchy—the early tactile processing stages involve the early visual cortex, whereas more advanced tactile computations involve high-level visual areas. Our findings are compatible with the metamodal account of brain organization and suggest that the whole visual cortex may potentially support spatial perception in a task-specific, sensory-independent manner

THE BLIND AS A RECIPIENTS OF ART - SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL AND REHABILITATIONAL MEANING OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION IN THE THEATRE FOR PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIREMENT

Udostępnianie sztuki, zwłaszcza przedstawień teatralnych i filmów, osobom niewidomym ma ogromne znaczenie w ich aktywizacji społecznej, jak również spełnia rolę edukacyjno-rehabilitacyjną. Udział osób niewidomych w warsztatach teatralnych sprawia, że mogą być w pełni uczestnikami i odbiorcami sztuki. Audiodeskrypcja spektakli sprzyja zrozumieniu niedostępnych dla dzieci niewidomych pojęć.Access to performing arts, including theatre performances is particularly important in social activation as well as education and rehabilitation of people with visual impairments. Theatre workshops can give blind individuals an opportunity to develop a sense of complete and active participation in artistic activities. Theatre performance audio description helps blind people understand visual concepts that are otherwise difficult to comprehend

Specyfika trudności w zakresie percepcji wzrokowej będących konsekwencją nowotworu mózgu u dziecka

The analyses presented in the article aim to investigate the specific nature of visual problems in a young child whose visual disability results from a brain tumor. The article presents a case study on difficulties in using vision and visual perception development in an almost 4-year-old boy with a brain tumor. It refers to knowledge concerning visual problems in children with brain tumors that is available in source materials and presents a detailed description of difficulties in visual reception and perception in a boy whose visual problems result from cancer. This description was made based on the results of a functional vision assessment. Decreased visual acuity, reduced visual fields, abnormalities in the development of oculomotor functions, lack of spatial vision, and difficulties in visual perception were found in the boy. Both the analysis of medical literature presented in the paper and the results of the boy's functional vision assessment suggest possible development of visual functioning disorders secondary to a brain tumor, such as decreased visual acuity and reduced visual fields, which determine visual abilities and have an adverse impact on the development of visual perception in early life. Based on the analysis of an individual situation, the description of difficulties in visual functioning suggests there is a risk of similar impairments in children with brain tumors.Celem analiz podjętych w artykule jest poznanie specyfiki zaburzeń widzenia u małego dziecka, u którego niepełnosprawność wzroku jest konsekwencją nowotworu mózgu. W artykule zaprezentowano studium przypadku dotyczące trudności w zakresie posługiwania się wzrokiem i rozwoju percepcji wzrokowej u niespełna czteroletniego chłopca z nowotworem mózgu. W opracowaniu odwołano się do wiedzy na temat zaburzeń widzenia u dzieci z nowotworami mózgu dostępnej w materiałach źródłowych oraz przedstawiono szczegółowy opis trudności w zakresie recepcji i percepcji wzrokowej u chłopca, którego problemy w zakresie funkcjonowania wzrokowego wynikają z choroby nowotworowej. Opis ten został sporządzony na podstawie wyników funkcjonalnej oceny widzenia. U badanego dziecka stwierdzono obniżoną ostrość wzroku, ubytki w polu widzenia, nieprawidłowości w zakresie rozwoju funkcji motorycznych oczu, brak widzenia przestrzennego oraz trudności w zakresie percepcji wzrokowej. Zarówno zaprezentowana analiza literatury medycznej, jak i opisane wyniki funkcjonalnej oceny widzenia chłopca, wskazują na potencjalną możliwość wystąpienia w przebiegu choroby nowotworowej mózgu takich nieprawidłowości z zakresu funkcjonowania wzrokowego, jak obniżenie ostrości wzroku i pojawianie się ubytków w polu widzenia, które determinują możliwości wzrokowe i niekorzystnie wpływają na rozwój percepcji wzrokowej we wczesnym okresie życia. Oparty na analizie jednostkowej sytuacji opis trudności w zakresie funkcjonowania wzrokowego wskazuje na ryzyko wystąpienia podobnych dysfunkcji w przebiegu choroby i jej leczenia u dzieci z nowotworem mózgu

Neurodydaktyka dla tyflopedagogiki – zachwyt czy ostrożna inspiracja? Opisowo-krytyczna analiza źródeł

Rozwój neuronauki, próbującej wyjaśnić funkcjonowanie poznawcze człowieka w oparciu o prawidłowości działania mózgu sprawił, że obszarem zainteresowań badawczych stała się plastyczność mózgu, także osób z niepełnosprawnością wzroku. W artykule przedstawiono zaledwie wycinek badań z zakresu neurobiologii, które dotyczą czytania dotykowego pisma Braille’a oraz orientacji przestrzennej i mobilności osób z niepełnosprawnością wzroku. Artykuł jest próbą odpowiedzi na pytanie czy i w jakim zakresie tyflopedagogika może lub powinna korzystać z neurodydaktyki, w kontekście metod, strategii nauczania i uczenia się oraz sposobów wspierających samodzielność osób niewidomych i słabowidzących

A shared code for Braille and Arabic digits revealed by cross-modal priming in sighted Braille readers

Quantities can be represented by different formats (e.g. symbolic or non-symbolic) and conveyed via differentmodalities (e.g. tactile or visual). Despite different priming curves: V-shape and step-shape for place and sum-mation coded representation, respectively, the occurrence of priming effect supports the notion of differentformat overlap on the same mental number line. However, little is known about tactile-visual overlap of sym-bolic numerosities i.e. Braille numbers to Arabic digits on the magnitude number representation. Here, in apriming experiment, we tested a unique group of sighted Braille readers to investigate whether tactile Brailledigits would activate a place-coding type of mental number representation (V-shape), analogous to othersymbolic formats. The primes were either tactile Braille digits presented on a Braille display or number wordspresented on a computer screen. The targets were visually presented Arabic digits, and subjects performed anaming task. Our results reveal a V-shape priming function for both prime formats: tactile Braille and writtenwords representing numbers, with strongest priming for primes of identical value (e.g."four"and"4"), and asymmetrical decrease of priming strength for neighboring numbers, which indicates that the observed priming isdue to identity priming. We thus argue that the magnitude information is processed according to a sharedphonological code, independent of the input modality

Braille in the Sighted: Teaching Tactile Reading to Sighted Adults

International audienceBlind people are known to have superior perceptual abilities in their remaining senses. Several studies suggest that these enhancements are dependent on the specific experience of blind individuals, who use those remaining senses more than sighted subjects. In line with this view, sighted subjects, when trained, are able to significantly progress in relatively simple tactile tasks. However, the case of complex tactile tasks is less obvious, as some studies suggest that visual deprivation itself could confer large advantages in learning them. It remains unclear to what extent those complex skills, such as braille reading, can be learnt by sighted subjects. Here we enrolled twenty-nine sighted adults, mostly braille teachers and educators, in a 9-month braille reading course. At the beginning of the course, all subjects were naive in tactile braille reading. After the course, almost all were able to read whole braille words at a mean speed of 6 words-per-minute. Subjects with low tactile acuity did not differ significantly in braille reading speed from the rest of the group, indicating that low tactile acuity is not a limiting factor for learning braille, at least at this early stage of learning. Our study shows that most sighted adults can learn whole-word braille reading, given the right method and a considerable amount of motivation. The adult sensorimotor system can thus adapt, to some level, to very complex tactile tasks without visual deprivation. The pace of learning in our group was comparable to congenitally and early blind children learning braille in primary school, which suggests that the blind's mastery of complex tactile tasks can, to a large extent, be explained by experience-dependent mechanisms

Blood and Sputum Eosinophils of COPD Patients Are Differently Polarized than in Asthma

Different eosinophil subpopulations have been identified in asthma and other eosinophilic disorders. However, there is a paucity of data on eosinophil subpopulations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to compare eosinophil phenotypes in blood and induced sputum in patients with COPD, asthma and controls. Stable patients with mild-to-moderate COPD (n = 15) and asthma (n = 14) with documented blood eosinophilia ≥100 cells/µL in the year prior to the study and the control group (n = 11) were included to the study. The blood and sputum eosinophil phenotypes were analyzed by flow cytometry. IL-5, IL-13, CCL5 and eotaxin-3 levels were measured in the induced sputum. The marker expression on blood eosinophils was similar among control, asthma and COPD groups. The expressions of CD125, CD193, CD14 and CD62L were higher on blood than on sputum eosinophils in all three groups. We found increased levels of CD193+ and CD66b+ sputum eosinophils from COPD patients, and an elevated level of CD11b+ sputum eosinophils in asthma compared to COPD patients. The results of our study suggest that the profile of marker expression on COPD sputum eosinophils differed from other groups, suggesting a distinct phenotype of eosinophils of COPD patients than in asthma or healthy subjects