Mental mapping of space in an individual with visual disability

J. Except. People 2014, 3(2):49-58

Mental mapping of space in an individual with visual disability

Hana Majerová: Institute of Special Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, Žižkovo nám. 5, 771 40 Olomouc, Czech Republic

The mental mapping of space in an individual with visual disability may be viewed from several perspectives just as it is in any person, a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual being. On one hand mental mapping may be viewed in terms of the special pedagogy training in spatial orientation and independent movement in persons with visual disability and on the other hand the theme is closely related to typhlopsychology - meaning the process of the creation of a mental map. An important role is undoubtedly played by the lower and higher compensatory mechanisms. In a person with visual disability the hearing, the touch and partly also the smell and the taste together with mental processes participate at the information intake, its following processing and evaluation. The perceived is then processed using the concentration, the thought processes including analytic-synthetic activity, the memory and the imagination. The perception and the imagination, as parts of the conscious processes, form an integral part of the research on consciousness that is currently the target field of contemporary research tendencies.

Keywords: person with visual disability, spatial orientation and independent movement, mental mapping

Published: December 11, 2014 Show citation

Majerová, H. (2014). Mental mapping of space in an individual with visual disability. Journal of Exceptional People, 3(5), 49-58

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