Social skills, empowerment and adaptation of families of visually impaired children to the pandemic

Abstract

Families of visually impaired children may face many challenges in promoting their children's development. However, a good repertoire of social skills and a high level of parental empowerment can positively contribute to the family environment offering contingent stimulation to the children's needs. In view of the current pandemic scenario, it is considered important to investigate how the families of children with visual impairments have adapted to the new reality, especially with regard to their children's academic activities. Thus, this study will have as objectives: (a) to characterize the social skills and empowerment of families of children with visual impairments. (b) relate the repertoire of social skills and the empowerment of families of preschool children with visual impairments. (c) understand how families of children with visual impairments have adapted, during the pandemic, to assist them with school activities. 10 to 20 family members responsible for visually impaired children in pre-school and early years of elementary school will participate in the research. The research will be carried out online, on digital platforms. To collect qualitative data, a semi-structured interview script for family members will be used. This script will be developed and categorized by the researcher. For the collection of quantitative data, two instruments will be applied, namely: Social Skills Inventory and Family Empowerment Scale. The qualitative data obtained in the interviews will be submitted to content analysis and the quantitative data obtained through the instruments will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. To relate the variables social skills and empowerment, the researcher will use a test that fits the characteristics of the sample (Pearson or Spearman's correlation coefficient, for example). It is hoped that the characterization of social skills and the empowerment of families of visually impaired children and the investigation of how families are dealing with their children's school activities during the period of social isolation can provide important information for future interventions.