BRAILLE READING PROFICIENCY AMONG LEARNERS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS: TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES AND LEARNERS’ READINESS IN AKROPONG SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND, GHANA

Globally, braille remains the main medium of reading and writing for individuals with visual impairment, specifically for the literate blind. The study sought to disclose the factors that have affected and continue to affect braille reading proficiency among beginners in Ghana. The study was carried out at Akropong School for the blind which is one of Ghana’s oldest and largest school for learners with visual impairment. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. A random sample of twenty girls and twenty boys were selected for the study. Five teachers who teach reading and writing of braille participated in the study. Three lessons in English language were observed in progress in three separate classrooms in the school. The study revealed that there were no arrangements put in place to train beginners in reading readiness skills before introducing them to braille reading. The study indicated that there were no clear ways of demonstrating how teachers approached the teaching of braille.  Article visualizations

PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF EDUCATING A DEAF-BLIND STUDENT IN A UNIVERSITY IN GHANA

This study explored the challenges and prospects of educating a deaf-blind student in a public university in Ghana. The study utilised an exploratory qualitative research design based on interviews and observation to explore how the deaf-blind learner navigated university life. The study found that the challenges experienced by all stakeholders included a lack of knowledge and understanding about deaf-blindness, communication challenges, inadequate preparation of educators/teachers and resource persons, lack of support structures for all stakeholders, and the time-consuming nature needed to educate the deaf-blind learner. The study recommends continuous in-service training on basic knowledge of deaf-blindness, instructional and socially inclusive strategies, and communication modes for deaf-blind learners for all stakeholders. A collaborative team approach to delivering training and inclusive education that involves all stakeholders is necessary. The study concludes that if lecturers of learners who are deaf-blind are provided with the necessary training on the skills and knowledge of facilitating communication with their students, this would, in turn, contribute positively towards teaching and learning.  Article visualizations

ATTITUDES OF NON-DISABLED STUDENTS TOWARDS THEIR PEERS WITH DISABILITIES IN AN INCLUSIVE SETTING IN GHANA

This study measured the attitudes of non-disabled students towards their peers with disabilities. A cross-sectional survey was employed for the study. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with “Handicaps” (CATCH) scale was used to collect data from n=119 respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis was employed in analysing the data. Results indicated that students without disabilities generally held neutral attitudes towards their peers with disabilities (M=2.12; SD=0.687) with no significant difference in gender, age, having a close friend or relative with a disability. Teachers in inclusive education schools were encouraged to measure the attitudes of students towards their peers with disabilities and other related variables. This would enable them to plan, design, develop, implement and evaluate effective interventions that would change non-disabled students’ negative and/or neutral attitudes, thereby ensuring the full social participation of students with disabilities in inclusive settings.   Article visualizations

ACCESS TO LIBRARY FACILITIES AND RESOURCES BY STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA.

This case study focused on how students with visual impairment access library facilities and resources at the University of Education, Winneba. Data were gathered through focus group interviews from 48 out of 99 undergraduate students with visual impairment. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants for the study. Data were analyzed thematically using color coding for the categorization of themes. The results indicated that students with visual impairment had some difficulties accessing the physical infrastructure of the libraries. It was revealed that learning materials of the University libraries were not in accessible formats, and the braille library only produced chapters of books for students with visual impairment. The results further indicated that students with visual impairment in the University wanted the management of the University to purchase assistive devices for them for personal and independent use. The study recommended that the management of the University’s libraries should ensure the provision of more technological devices that will produce learning materials in accessible formats for students with visual impairment to promote the use of library resources

Prevalence and causes of visual impairment amongst hearing impaired school-going children in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Background: Learners living with hearing impairment are at a higher risk of visual impairment. Purpose: To summarise relevant literature investigating the prevalence and causes of visual impairment amongst learners living with hearing impairment in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A search of nine databases and the reference lists of retrieved studies were conducted using the standard methodology for scoping reviews as described in the PRISMA statement. The databases were MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Global Health, OVID, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Science Direct. A scoping review of articles published in the English language from 2000 to 2020 was conducted while considering the study design, sub-Saharan Africa, and school for the deaf. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. Results: The initial search retrieved eight studies, seven of which met the set inclusion criteria. All seven studies included employed a cross-sectional design. The prevalence of visual impairment ranged from 2.2-34.6% with the major cause being uncorrected refractive error (7.9-73.26%). The most common type of refractive error was myopia (42.2%) followed by hyperopia (28.6%) and astigmatism (28.6%). Conclusion: This review has demonstrated that there is a paucity of high-quality and well-designed studies that have investigated the prevalence and causes of visual impairment amongst hearing-impaired children in sub-Saharan Africa suggesting the need for further research in this area. Keywords: Visual impairment; prevalence; Africa; hearing impairment; ocular morbidity

Sports anaemia and anthropometric evaluation of footballers at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Introduction: Sports anaemia is a physiological activity that occurs amongst footballers and may be due to poor diet, over-training, as well as an increase in plasma volume in endurance training activities. High plasma volume leads to changes in haematological parameters that may impact on endurance of footballers. The objective of the study was to determine the correlation between haematological and an-thropometric indices and their role in sports anaemia in a tropical setting. Methods: Venous blood was taken into EDTA for 12 soccer players of KNUST soccer team before training and after training for the first (W1) and fifth (W5) weeks of training sessions. Complete blood count analysis was done for each blood sample and anthropometric parameters such as height, weight, body mass index, body fat percent and lean body mass were also measured. Cross-tabulations with mean and standard deviation or median and range were computed. Paired t-test & and Mann-Whitney test for parametric and non-parametric data computations were carried out and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was taken to rep-resent significant difference between data groups. Results: There was significant reduction in haemoglobin (p =0.003), haematocrit (p =0.002), mean cell volume (MCV) (p =0.034) and red blood cell (RBC) count (p=0.011) as a result of a significant expansion of plasma volume (p= 0.006). Neutrophil, lymphocyte and eosinophil counts were reduced significantly (p= 0.043, 0.001 and 0.007, respectively) after the training at W5. Lean body mass (LBM) inversely correlated with haemoglobin (r= -0.787, p= 0.002) and haematocrit (r= -0.588, p= 0.044). Body fat percentage (BFP) also negatively correlated with lymphocyte count (r= -0.700, p= 0.011). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and plasma volume change after the training programme (r=0.689, p= 0.013). Conclusion: The results suggest that sports anaemia was induced by an increase in plasma volume that resulted in changes in haematological parameters.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2

Analysis of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) degree programme of the Department of Special Education at Charles University in Prague

This qualitative small-scale case study is on "An Analysis of the Special Education Needs (SEN) Degree Programme of the Department of Special Education at Charles University in Prague". It was conducted between February and July 2010 to gain deep understanding into how teachers of learners with special needs are educated in the Czech Republic and to find out how the programme is promoting inclusive education in the country. The literature review on teacher education and special education needs underscored the importance of the topic in the new millennium as many governments and ministries through their faculties of education in universities are coming up with strategies to ensure the achievement of "education for all" by 2015. I administered semi-structured interview to 3 lecturers including a retired professor of the Department and an official from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports; questionnaire to 15 final year students selected through purposive sampling and reviewed official legal documents to gather data for the study. I analysed the data thematically using triangulation method to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of the study. The results revealed that the programme comprises both theory and practicum components which are blended to produce competent graduate teachers. The..

ACCESS TO LIBRARY FACILITIES AND RESOURCES BY STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA.

This case study focused on how students with visual impairment access library facilities and resources at the University of Education, Winneba. Data were gathered through focus group interviews from 48 out of 99 undergraduate students with visual impairment. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants for the study. Data were analyzed thematically using color coding for the categorization of themes. The results indicated that students with visual impairment had some difficulties accessing the physical infrastructure of the libraries. It was revealed that learning materials of the University libraries were not in accessible formats, and the braille library only produced chapters of books for students with visual impairment. The results further indicated that students with visual impairment in the University wanted the management of the University to purchase assistive devices for them for personal and independent use. The study recommended that the management of the University’s libraries should ensure the provision of more technological devices that will produce learning materials in accessible formats for students with visual impairment to promote the use of library resources