An investigation on the status of resilience among blind adolescent students

Abstract

Ethiopia has one of the world’s highest rates of visual disability. Among persons with visual disability living in Bahir Dar town, adolescents take a significant share of this population. Living sightless for anyone, whether young or old, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, with adequate support or without it is seriously challenging. The quality of life of blind persons is significantly influenced by the resilience they possess. The status of resilience of blind adolescents learning in schools of Bahir Dar town is not known. Against this backdrop, this study was germinated and designed to explore the level of resilience of blind adolescents. A survey design was employed to examine the resilience status of blind adolescent students and the influence of some demographics on resilience. Data were collected from a random sample of 60 blind adolescents using Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA followed by Scheffe post hoc comparisons were used to analyze the data. The results revealed lower level of resilience. Gender, time of onset of blindness, parental education and family income were influencing resilience. Implications for education and rehabilitation of blind adolescents are explored.