Children with blindness : developmental aspects, comorbidity and implications for education and support

Children with blindness are rare, and have specific learning needs. Many also have additional disabilities, which brings further challenges. In order to provide properly adapted support, knowledge about the consequences of blindness for development and learning is necessary. For more than thirty years, the majority of Swedish children with blindness have attended inclusive educational settings in local schools around the country. However, since childhood blindness is unusual, creating a learning environment for a child with no, or very limited vision, is generally a completely new experience for the teacher who becomes responsible for the child’s education. Therefore, supporting actors on different levels have a great responsibility to provide knowledge and tools to parents, teachers and others close to the child, in order for them to create optimal opportunities for the child's development. This thesis is about children with blindness, with and without additional disabilities, their educational support needs and areas in need of improvement regarding the support provided in and out of school. Special focus is directed towards children with blindness in combination with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a complex group that face specific challenges in the educational context. Kim de Verdier is a lic. psychologist, with many years of experience of working with children with visual impairments and blindness, and providing counselling to their parents and teachers. This is a doctoral thesis in Special Education at Stockholm University, Sweden 2018.