The changing perceptions and attitudes toward children with a vision impairment in high schools

Helen Keller once said, 'not blindness, but the attitude of seeing to the blind is the hardest burden to bear' (Jan, Freeman & Scott, 1977, 385). In this study the changing attitudes toward children with a vision impairment, from early times through to present day will be examined. The world is organisedon the basis of possession and use of vision, yet people with a vision impairment are able to do the same as their sighted peers but require extra concentration, time and exertion. Sighted people interpret this by overestimating the physical and mental limitations imposed on the blind regarding the blind as dependant and helpless.'... the major problems of blindness, at any age, stems from the mistaken attitudes held by the sighted toward that blindness, and from the economic and social impact of those attitudes on the blind' (Rottman, 1976,61). In terms of a child's education the manifestation has been to segregate and isolate. Education systems in Great Britain and America have followed similar paths leading to the integration of children with a vision impairment into the regular school system. Australian history, although much shorter has also acknowledged the value of including children with a vision impairment into regular schools. Attitudes form the major focus as the critical change agent leading to inclusion. What follows provides a basis as to why attitudes have meant exclusion was the norm and how the changes have evolved toward inclusion.