The Personal Networks and Social Supports of Blind and Visually Impaired Adolescents

Abstract

<jats:p> This article describes a study of the personal networks and social supports of 316 blind and visually impaired adolescents, aged 14–23, in The Netherlands. The study found that the mean size of these adolescents’ personal networks was 15 persons, compared to 15–20 for sighted adolescents. The oldest adolescents had the largest networks, and the blind adolescents had the smallest. The female and oldest adolescents had more friends, whom they considered important sources of support. However, for all the adolescents, parents were the most important source of support. </jats:p>

Seeing it my way: living with childhood onset visual disability

“…Similarly, our findings suggest that establishing friendships can be difficult for VI children, particularly in mainstream schools where the feelings of isolation and exclusion seemed particularly prominent compared with those in specialist educational settings. Those children who mentioned having a good circle of friends had a tendency to talk positively about their QoL in keeping with research showing that well‐being of adolescents with visual impairment is related to peer support (Kef ; Kef & Dekovic ).…”

Feeling of Loneliness in Deaf Adolescents: the Effect of An Online Life Skills Program

“…, the findings of the following ones are consistent with the findings of the present study(Kef, 1997; Mc Gaha & ferrin, 2001; Erozkan, 2009; Bharath & Kishore-Kumar, 2010; Wittenberg & Reis, 1986; Heinrich & Gullone, 2006; Christians & Ankrom, 1988; Asher & Paquette, 2003; Hermann, 2005; Mahvash-Vernosfaderani & Movallali, 2013; Mahvash-Vernosfaderani, 2014; Mahvash-Vernosfaderani, Adibsereshki, & Movallali, 2012; Pettala & Rajaguru, 2016).…”

Improving social participation of adolescents with a visual impairment with community-based mentoring: results from a randomized controlled trial

“…Social network size was assessed with the Social Network Map [7,55] measuring the size of the social network. The original map uses a technique in which a circle is drawn to display the social network visually.…”

“…Satisfaction with social support was measured with two items [7]. The first item assesses satisfaction with instrumental support (How satisfied are you with the support you get with practical problems?).…”

“…Having a disability can limit participation in daily living activities and reduce participation in social activities [1][2][3]. In particular, young people with a visual impairment face challenges with establishing and maintaining relationships, performing group leisure and physical activities, and building successful school and work careers [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. These forms of social participation are vital to successfully completing social developmental tasks on time and contribute to health, psychological wellbeing, and quality of life [13,14].…”