Effects of navigation training on orientation tasks by blind adults / Orientação espacial em adultos com deficiência visual: efeitos de um treinamento de navegação

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify whether or not an intervention program in navigation could help blind individuals to improve accuracy in dynamic orientation tasks. Nine individuals with blindness were requested to return to the departure point after walking in a straight line and along two sides of a squared triangle. Pre- and post-evaluations were conducted before and after a four-month training program. During the straight-line task, results of relative errors of angle deviations (READ) showed significant differences between the two test periods. The READ was larger in the straight-line task because the subject had to turn 180º prior to returning to the departure point (in contrast with the triangle task, which required a turn of 45º). We concluded that, in orientation tasks for individuals with blindness, errors in angle deviations depend on the amount of turn prior to returning to the departure point. And finally, the navigation program influenced accuracy in maintaining direction during orientation tasks.

Keywords

• Spatial orientation
• blindness
• distance perception