Thesis (BS Architecture) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2012

The number of blind and visually impaired children is increasingly growing nowadays. The situation is worsened y the fact, that last few years as a result of medical successes in nursing of premature newborn children a number of multi-disabled children with blindness increased too. Raising a blind or visually impaired preschool child is a big challenge not only for their parents but for the teachers as well. Because of limited sensor system and lack of information about how things happen in the world, blind and visually impaired children have special needs caused by physical and psychological development, and process of social psychological adjustment to life. From birth, blind and visually impaired child needs special care aimed to form compensatory mechanism and attitude towards the world. If these problems are successfully solved in preschool ages, these children can integrate better in community, will have better private and social life, better social and psychological well-being, and will easily get good education and profession. Some of these children are often gifted in some ways and their educators should cultivate their individual and signature talents to boost the child?s esteem and confidence. For example, a child may be blind but he can be a piano prodigy because of his superior auditory skills. Some children often develop higher sensory perception in their other functioning faculties because their bodies adjust their sensory functions to compensate for their lack of sight, hearing or speech. Quality awareness for special educational bodies and institutions so that these kids can be assured of getting the right learning for their almost independent growth. These kids have a different way of learning because of their physical limitations but their education should not be substandard or less impressive than what common schooling could offer. An educational institution for blind children would be an adjustment to blindness training center with enhanced tactile and auditory building designs as well as directional pathwalk designs to make it more accessible for the blind and visually-impaired people. This design project proposes a learning institution which will teach the necessary skills such as Braille, home management, the use of the white cane, and computers with screen reading software, that blind people need to enhance, learn or develop in order to become independent and employable. This institution will not just serve as an educational tool but as a community. To facilitate this process, students will be taught to function independently in a variety of real-life settings. But just as importantly, the institution will instill to the students the confidence to put these skills into practice. It will utilize the positive view of blindness and will work from the premise that blindness doesn?t have to be a tragedy. If given training and opportunity, blind people can live full and productive lives.