A Haptic Nonverbal Cognitive Test for Children and Adolescents With Visual Impairment

Introduction: The objective of the current study was to design and pilot-test a nonverbal intelligence test for children and adolescents with visual impairment (i.e., blindness and low vision) aged 10 to 16 years. Method: A three-dimensional haptic matrix test of nonverbal cognitive abilities (3-DHMT-CA), initially developed for adults with visual impairment, was adapted and administered to 25 juveniles with severe low vision or blindness and 25 sighted peers. The test consisted of 22 tactual matrices with a missing element, and juveniles were asked to understand the logical scheme underlying each matrix and to complete it. Convergent validity was assessed in the sighted group with the Standard Progressive Matrices. Divergent validity was measured with the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and the Working Memory Index (WMI) of the Italian version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition. Between-group differences were analyzed with Student’s t-test and ANOVA. Results: Results show a high correlation with the convergent measure (with the Standard Progressive Matrices), and the moderate correlations with divergent measures (VCI and WMI). Between-group differences showed significantly higher scores for sighted peers than juveniles with visual impairment at 3-DHMT-CA, and non-significant differences at VCI and WMI. Discussion: This haptic nonverbal cognitive test showed good psychometric properties, but it needs to be validated in a larger sample with a qualitative analysis of solution strategies because juveniles with visual impairment seem to use different verbal and working memory strategies. Implications for Practitioners: The 3-DHMT-CA and the haptic two-hands modality seem to be suitable to test nonverbal cognitive abilities in juveniles with visual impairment. Practitioners should focus on empowering verbal and working memory abilities, since they may affect nonverbal cognitive abilities as well.

Cognitive Assessment of Children Who Are Deafblind: Perspectives and Suggestions for Assessments

The overall goal of a cognitive assessment is to improve communication, learning, and quality of life for a child who is deafblind. This article will give a brief description and perspective on different evaluation approaches as a basis for reliable cognitive assessments and offer suggestions on how to improve the quality of a cognitive assessment in our clinical practice. The assessor should be aware of the limitations of norm-referenced tests if standardized normative measures are applied to evaluate the cognitive functions of a child who is deafblind. However, if engaging a child with deafblindness in a standardized normative assessment, special considerations and assessment concessions would be required. Furthermore, key issues on how to improve the quality of a cognitive assessment by affording multiple assessment pathways for cognitive assessments will be addressed. Particular attention is given to the following assessment approaches: multi-method, multi-informant assessment, ecological assessment, and dynamic assessment. The use of multiple assessment pathways is necessary to reveal the genuine cognitive abilities and potentials of a child with deafblindness.

Haptic-2D: A new haptic test battery assessing the tactual abilities of sighted and visually impaired children and adolescents with two-dimensional raised materials

To fill an important gap in the psychometric assessment of children and adolescents with impaired vision, we designed a new battery of haptic tests, called Haptic-2D, for visually impaired and sighted individuals aged five to 18 years. Unlike existing batteries, ours uses only two-dimensional raised materials that participants explore using active touch. It is composed of 11 haptic tests, measuring scanning skills, tactile discrimination skills, spatial comprehension skills, short-term tactile memory, and comprehension of tactile pictures. We administered this battery to 138 participants, half of whom were sighted (n=69), and half visually impaired (blind, n=16; low vision, n=53). Results indicated a significant main effect of age on haptic scores, but no main effect of vision or Age × Vision interaction effect. Reliability of test items was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha, α=0.51-0.84). Convergent validity was good, as shown by a significant correlation (age partialled out) between total haptic scores and scores on the B101 test (rp=0.51, n=47). Discriminant validity was also satisfactory, as attested by a lower but still significant partial correlation between total haptic scores and the raw score on the verbal WISC (rp=0.43, n=62). Finally, test-retest reliability was good (rs=0.93, n=12; interval of one to two months). This new psychometric tool should prove useful to practitioners working with young people with impaired vision.