Percebendo o importante papel da iconografia na atualidade, tanto na sociedade como na educação, e considerando a restrição visual dos alunos com deficiência visual, esta pesquisa propõe analisar as práticas pedagógicas de professores de História da educação básica no que tange ao uso da imagem iconográfica com alunos cegos. Neste trabalho, considera-se a iconografia não só como recurso de representação do tempo passado, mas também como documentação histórica, material pedagógico fundamental para a produção do conhecimento histórico e desenvolvimento do raciocínio crítico sobre a História. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida tendo como base teóricos que se alinham às áreas de Educação Especial, Ensino de História e Artes, tais como: Amiralian (1997), Aumont (1995), Ballestero-alvarez (2002), Barbosa (1998; 1999), Barthes (1984), Benjamin (1955), Bittencourt (1993; 1998; 2001; 2004; 2011), Brun (1991), Bueno (2011), Burke (2004), Calazans (2014), Candau (2010), Cerri (2010), Chartier (1988), Couchot (1993), Dondis (2007), Fonseca (2006), Fonseca e Siman (2001), Joly (2007), Knauss (2006), Kossoy (1980; 1989), Lowenfeld (1971), Masini (1994; 2012; 2013), Maud (1996), Merleau-Ponty (1999), Molina (2007), Moreira e Câmara (2010), Nobrega (2008), Ott (1999), Panofsky (2014), Profeta (2007), Reily (2004), Rossi (2006), Saliba (1999; 2001), Sardelich (2006), Sarraf (2014), Siman (2004), Snyder (2007) e Soler (1999). Inicialmente, foi feita uma pesquisa histórica sobre o ensino de História no Imperial Instituto dos Meninos Cegos, educandário do século XIX que fundou as bases para o ensino da pessoa com deficiência visual no Brasil, com destaque para os usos da imagem no ensino. Posteriormente, houve uma reflexão sobre as possibilidades envolvendo a leitura de imagens no campo do ensino de História e as teorias que envolvem a abordagem multissensorial de ensino para cegos, sob as concepções de corpo e percepção em MerleauPonty (1999). Essa pesquisa, de abordagem qualitativa, além da revisão bibliográfica realizada, compreende também, uma pesquisa de campo que permitiu conhecer práticas pedagógicas de professores de História com uso da iconografia, com foco para alunos do 7º ano do ensino fundamental. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada com base em observações em sala de aula e entrevistas semiestruturadas com os professores de História e do Atendimento Educacional Especializado que lecionam para alunos cegos matriculados no 7º ano do ensino fundamental de duas escolas da rede pública municipal de São Paulo. Além disso, houve também uma intervenção pedagógica inclusiva, em parceria com os professores de História das escolas, que envolveu o uso e a análise da iconografia como fonte documental e recurso didático para a disciplina. Os dados coletados foram analisados seguindo o referencial teórico de Bardin (2009). Procura-se, por fim, refletir e apontar possibilidades de ensino de História pautadas em uma abordagem multissensorial e fundamentadas na fenomenologia de MerleauPonty (1999), que permitam ao aluno com deficiência visual desenvolver uma análise mais completa da iconografia. / Realizing the important role of iconography nowadays, both in society and education, and considering the visual restriction of students with visual impairment, this research aims to analyze the pedagogical practices of History teachers from elementary school regarding the use of iconographic images in blind students education. In this paper, it is considered that iconography is not only a resource for the representation of the past, but it is also a historical documentation, basic pedagogical material for the production of historical knowledge and the development of critical thinking about History. The research was based on theoretical frameworks that align to particular areas of Education, History Teaching and Arts, such as: Amiralian (1997), Aumont (1995), Ballestero-alvarez (2002), Barbosa (1998; 1999), Barthes (1984), Benjamin (1955), Bittencourt (1993; 1998; 2001; 2004; 2011), Brun (1991), Bueno (2011), Burke (2004), Calazans (2014), Candau (2010), Cerri (2010), Chartier (1988), Couchot (1993), Dondis (2007), Fonseca (2006), Fonseca e Siman (2001), Joly (2007), Knauss (2006), Kossoy (1980; 1989), Lowenfeld (1971), Masini (1994; 2012; 2013), Maud (1996), Merleau-Ponty (1999), Molina (2007), Moreira e Câmara (2010), Nobrega (2008), Ott (1999), Panofsky (2014), Profeta (2007), Reily (2004), Rossi (2006), Saliba (1999; 2001), Sardelich (2006), Sarraf (2014), Siman (2004), Snyder (2007) e Soler (1999). Initially, a historical research about the History teaching was done at the Imperial Instituto dos Meninos Cegos, a nineteenth century school that founded the bases in Brazil for teaching people with visual impairment, focusing on the use of images for teaching. Subsequently, there was a reflection about the possibilities involving the image lecture in the History teaching area and the theories that involve the multisensorial approach of teaching to blind students, under the conceptions of body and perception in Merleau-Ponty (1999). Besides the bibliographic review, this research has a qualitative approach and also includes a field research that allowed us to know pedagogical practices with the use of iconography by History teachers who teach students of the 7th year of elementary school. The field research was based on classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with History teachers and teachers from the Atendimento Educacional Especializado that give classes to blind students enrolled in the 7th year of elementary school in two public schools from São Paulo. In addition, there was also an inclusive pedagogical intervention, in partnership with the History teachers of these schools, which involved the use and analysis of iconography as a historical documentation and didactic resource for the subject. The collected data were analyzed by using the theoretical frameworks of Bardin (2009). Finally, this work aims to reflect and point out possibilities of History teaching guided in a multisensory approach and based on the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (1999), which allow students with visual impairments to develop a better analysis of iconography.

Lau Tsz Yam. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-94). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Characterization of Colour Deficiency --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Mechanism of colour vision --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Quantitative specification of colour --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Discrimination ellipses --- p.17 / Chapter 2.4 --- Colour perception of colour deficient people --- p.22 / Chapter 2.5 --- Luminance match of colour deficient people --- p.32 / Chapter 2.6 --- Diagnosis of colour deficiency --- p.32 / Chapter 2.7 --- Dichromat simulation algorithm --- p.35 / Chapter 3 --- Monocular Compensation --- p.37 / Chapter 3.1 --- Principle --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2 --- Potential problems without monocular compensation --- p.39 / Chapter 3.3 --- Existing monocular compensation implementations --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4 --- Compensation algorithm for monocular compensation --- p.47 / Chapter 4 --- Stereo Visual Display Unit - Monocular Compensation --- p.48 / Chapter 4.1 --- Gamut-based palette compression --- p.49 / Chapter 4.2 --- Compensation level --- p.56 / Chapter 4.3 --- Realizing transformed chromaticities --- p.59 / Chapter 5 --- Evaluation --- p.64 / Chapter 5.1 --- Extensiveness of compensation --- p.65 / Chapter 5.2 --- Combination of discriminations from the two eyes --- p.68 / Chapter 5.3 --- Discrimination improvement and visual comfort --- p.72 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion and Future Works --- p.82 / Chapter A --- Raw Data of Experiment 53 --- p.85 / Bibliography --- p.91

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Objetivou-se validar um modelo de comunicaÃÃo nÃo-verbal para o atendimento de enfermagem à clientela cega, segundo o referencial teÃrico de E.T. Hall (1986). Trata-se de um estudo metodolÃgico, desenvolvido no LabCom_SaÃde do Departamento de Enfermagem da UFC, no perÃodo de outubro de 2007 a junho de 2008. Foram selecionados 15 cegos e 15 enfermeiros para comporem cada grupo, treinado e nÃo-treinado e ambos tiveram as mesmas caracterÃsticas. Os cegos foram contatados por meio da AssociaÃÃo dos Cegos do Estado do Cearà e os enfermeiros a partir dos Centros AcadÃmicos. A fase de coleta de dados do grupo nÃo-treinado deu-se durante o mÃs de abril de 2008, por meio de consultas. Estas ocorreram dentro do LabCom_SaÃde e os dados foram coletados por meio de filmagens. O primeiro passo para a construÃÃo do modelo foram os estudos realizados acerca da teoria de Hall (1986). Subdividiu-se a consulta de enfermagem em quatro etapas denominadas etapas do cuidado. Em cada etapa de cuidado sÃo orientadas as aÃÃes do enfermeiro, descreve-se a aÃÃo e como deve ser desenvolvida tal aÃÃo. A etapa do cuidado 1 refere-se à organizaÃÃo do ambiente para desenvolver a Consulta de Enfermagem. Na etapa do cuidado 2 o enfermeiro deve receber o paciente na entrada do consultÃrio para introduzi-lo no ambiente onde serà realizada a consulta e deve cumprimentÃ-lo e informar a localizaÃÃo dos mÃveis e objetos. Jà a etapa do cuidado 3 aborda o desenvolvimento da CEnf propriamente dita. A etapa do cuidado 4 constitui-se a Ãltima etapa do modelo de comunicaÃÃo nÃo-verbal e enfoca a finalizaÃÃo da consulta e o encerramento da comunicaÃÃo com o paciente. ApÃs ser construÃdo, o referido modelo foi submetido à validaÃÃo aparente e de conteÃdo. Foi analisado por trÃs especialistas em comunicaÃÃo nÃo-verbal, por ser um nÃmero jà adotado em pesquisas anteriores. As sugestÃes incluÃdas no modelo se referiram à abrangÃncia, forma de apresentaÃÃo e representatividade do conteÃdo. Em seguida, iniciou-se a segunda etapa de validaÃÃo, por meio da qual o modelo foi submetido à testagem. Os enfermeiros e concludentes foram treinados de acordo tanto com as tÃcnicas de comunicaÃÃo pertinentes à utilizaÃÃo da comunicaÃÃo nÃo-verbal quanto em relaÃÃo à utilizaÃÃo do modelo com cegos. Quanto à coleta dos dados, foi realizada mediante o uso de trÃs cÃmeras filmadoras que registraram toda a consulta de enfermagem entre a enfermeira, o cego e o acompanhante, quando este estivesse presente. Para a anÃlise dos dados das filmagens foram escolhidos outros trÃs juÃzes, enfermeiros e estudantes do Programa de PÃs-GraduaÃÃo em Enfermagem, do nÃvel mestrado e doutorado, da UFC. Eles foram treinados em relaÃÃo à utilizaÃÃo do instrumento de anÃlise da comunicaÃÃo nÃo-verbal do enfermeiro-cego (CONVENCE) e do instrumento de validaÃÃo do modelo. Pelo fato deste estudo ser duplo cego, os juÃzes nÃo eram informados acerca de qual grupo, controle ou experimental, eram realizadas as anÃlises. Os dados coletados foram inseridos em planilha eletrÃnica com a utilizaÃÃo do programa SPSS, versÃo 14.0, e analisados em freqÃÃncia absoluta por meio de tabelas univariadas. Para se analisar a associaÃÃo entre as variÃveis e os enfermeiros nos grupos controle e experimental, foram empregados os testes qui-quadrado (&#967;2) e o mÃximo de verossimilhanÃa. Cumpriram-se as normas que regulamentam pesquisas em seres humanos, conforme a ResoluÃÃo 196/96 do MinistÃrio da SaÃde. Ao se comparar as aÃÃes da etapa do cuidado 1 entre o grupo treinado e nÃo-treinado, observa-se que o grupo treinado obteve resultado excelente (p<0,0001) em quatro dos cinco itens avaliados. Somente o item âtemperaturaâ apresentou proporÃÃo aproximadamente igual na escala. Na Tabela 3, ao se comparar as aÃÃes da etapa do cuidado 2 entre os grupos, observa-se que o treinado obteve resultado excelente (p<0,05) em todos os itens avaliados. Portanto, houve associaÃÃo estatisticamente significante em todas as aÃÃes. Em relaÃÃo aos resultados obtidos pela Tabela 4, observam-se resultados excelentes (p<0,05) em oito dos nove itens avaliados do grupo treinado em relaÃÃo ao grupo nÃo-treinado na etapa do cuidado 3. Apenas o item referente a âseguir o roteiro da CEnfâ ficou prÃximo ao valor do teste, ressaltando que esta aÃÃo obteve forte indicador de associaÃÃo. Os dados da Tabela 5 mostraram tambÃm resultados excelentes (p<0,05) do grupo treinado em relaÃÃo ao grupo nÃo-treinado nas trÃs das quatro aÃÃes desenvolvidas na etapa do cuidado 4. Conforme se percebe na Tabela 6, todos os itens contribuem para a confiabilidade interna do Modelo de ComunicaÃÃo NÃo-Verbal Enfermeiro-Cego. Conclui-se com este trabalho a necessidade de implementaÃÃo prÃtica tanto por parte dos enfermeiros como dos estudantes de enfermagem deste Modelo de ComunicaÃÃo NÃo-Verbal com o paciente cego para tornar o cuidado efetivo e afetivo, especialmente com aqueles que necessitam compreender e serem compreendidos em sua vida cotidiana. Confirma-se a hipÃtese de que o Modelo de ComunicaÃÃo NÃo-Verbal Enfermeiro-Cego à eficaz na consulta de enfermagem a pacientes cegos. / The goal was to validate a non-verbal communication model for nursing care delivery to blind clients, based on the reference framework by E.T. Hall (1986). This methodological research was developed at the LabCom_SaÃde research lab of the Nursing Department at Cearà Federal University between October 2007 and June 2008. Fifteen blind people and 15 nurses were selected for each group, i.e. trained and non-trained, both with the same characteristics. The blind were contacted through the Cearà State Association of the Blind (ACEC) and the nurses through the Academic Centers (CAs). In the non-trained group, data were collected in April 2008 through consultations. These took place inside the LabCom_SaÃde and data were collected through movie recordings. The studies carried out about Hallâs theory (1986) represented the first step to construct the model. The nursing consultation was subdivided in four phases, which were called care phases. In each phase, orientations are given for the nurseâs actions and the action is described, as well as how this action should take place. Care phase 1 refers to the organization of the environment to develop the Nursing Consultation (CEnf). In care phase 2, the nurse should receive the patient at the entry of the consultation room to introduce him/her into the environment where the consultation will take place, greet the patient and inform where furniture and objects are located. Care phase 3 addresses the development of the CEnf itself. Care phase 4 constitutes the final phase of the non-verbal communication model and focuses on how to end the consultation and close off communication with the patient. After its construction, the Model was submitted to face and content validation. It was analyzed by three specialists in non-verbal communication specialists, a number already adopted in earlier studies. The suggestions included in the model referred to range, presentation form and content representativeness. Next, the second validation phase started, through which the model was tested. The nurses and blind people were trained in terms of the communication techniques that are important in the use of non-verbal communication as well as the use of the Model with blind people. Data were collected with the help of three film cameras that recorded the entire nursing consultation among the nurse, the blind and the companion, if present. To analyze the movie data, three other judges were chosen, who were nurses and students from the Graduate Nursing Program at Cearà Federal University, masterâs and doctoral level. They were trained on how to use to nurse-blind non-verbal communication analysis instrument (CONVENCE) and the model validation instrument. As this was a double-blind study, the judges were not informed about which group â control or experimental - they were analyzing. The collected data were inserted in an electronic worksheet, using SPSS software, version 14.0, and analyzed as absolute frequencies through univariate table. To analyze the association between the variables and the nurses in the control and experimental groups, the chi-square (&#967;2) test and the maximum likelihood estimation were used. Guidelines for research involving human beings were complied with, in accordance with Resolution 196/96 by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The comparison between care phase 1 actions in the trained and non-trained group showed that the trained group obtained excellent results (p<0.0001) on four of the five items under analysis. The only exception was the âtemperatureâ item, with an approximately equal proportion on the scale. Table 3 shows that, when comparing care phase 2 actions between the groups, the trained group obtained an excellent result (p<0.05) on all items under evaluation. Hence, statistically significant associations were found for all actions. As to the results obtained in Table 4, excellent results are observed (p<0.05) on eight of the nine items assessed for the trained group in comparison with the non-trained group in care phase 3. Only the item related to âfollowing the CEnf scriptâ remained close to the test value, highlighting that this action obtained a strong association score. Data in Table 5 also showed excellent results (p<0.05) for the trained group in comparison with the non-trained group for three of the four actions developed in care phase 4. As observed in Table 6, all items contributed to the internal reliability of the Nurse-Blind Non-Verbal Communication Model. Through this research, it is concluded that nurses and even nursing students need to implement this Non-Verbal Communication Model with a view to effective and affective care, especially for patients who need to understand and be understood in their daily life. The hypothesis is confirmed that the Nurse-Blind Non-Verbal Communication Model is effective in nursing consultations with blind patients.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrea Silva Souza.pdf: 3578491 bytes, checksum: 051cabe4e4a4d4b29651cda188b16c46 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work studies the visual comfort in interfaces as a way to improve the accessibility and usability on the websites. Its main objective is to research the colors and their influence on access to web space turning it better, bringing the use of Internet for everyone without exception. Among the theoretical and methodological aspects chosen was approached the philosophy of semiotics, color theory, and especially the concepts of accessibility and usability / Este trabalho estuda o conforto visual nas interfaces, como forma de melhoria na acessibilidade e usabilidade nos sítios. Tem como principal objetivo a pesquisa das cores e sua influencia quanto ao acesso no espaço web melhorando e trazendo, ao mesmo tempo, uma Internet para todos sem exceção. Dentre os aspectos teórico-metodológicos escolhidos foi abordada a filosofia da semiótica, teoria das cores, e principalmente os conceitos de acessibilidade e usabilidade

La cécité précoce induit des modifications majeures dans l’architecture fonctionnelle du cerveau. Les lobes occipitaux ne traitent plus l’information visuelle mais vont désormais traiter les signaux auditifs et tactiles et participer à des fonctions cognitives telles que le langage et la mémoire. Cette nouvelle organisation fonctionnelle nous permet de mieux comprendre l’influence de l’expérience sensorielle sur le développement cérébral. Nous avons étudié cette réorganisation et certains de ses possibles déterminants. Tout d’abord, nous avons utilisé l’imagerie par résonnance magnétique fonctionnelle (IRMf) pour identifier les régions du cortex visuel activées par différentes fonctions cognitives. Nous avons également montré que chacune de ces régions est fonctionnellement connectée au réseau cérébral qui sous-tend la fonction correspondante chez les sujets sains. Puis, nous avons réalisé une étude de la connectivité fonctionnelle chez des nouveau-nés, qui suggère que la connectivité innée du cortex visuel guide la réorganisation observée chez les aveugles. Ensuite, grâce à la magnétoencéphalographie (MEG), nous avons étudié la réorganisation de la représentation cérébrale du sens des mots. Chez les aveugles, l’accès au sens des mots a le même décours temporel que chez les sujets voyants, mais il recrute le cortex occipital en sus des régions habituelles. Enfin, nous avons observé une variabilité individuelle plus importante chez les aveugles dans l’organisation cérébrale du système sémantique. Nos résultats contribuent ainsi à la compréhension de la réorganisation cérébrale dans la cécité, et plus généralement du rôle de l’expérience perceptive dans le développement. / Blindness early in life leads to major changes in the functional architecture of the brain. The occipital lobes, no longer processing visual information, turn to processing auditory and tactile input and high-order cognitive functions such as language and memory. This functional reorganization offers a window into the influence of experience on brain development in humans. We studied the outcomes of this reorganization and its potential precursors. First, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in order to delineate regions in the visual cortex according to their sensitivity to high-order cognitive functions. Then, using functional connectivity, we demonstrated distinct connections from those regions to the rest of the brain. Crucially, we found a functional correspondence between the visual regions and their connected brain networks. Then, using functional connectivity in neonates, we provided preliminary evidence in support of the proposition that innate connectivity biases underlie functional reorganization. Second, we focused on language, one of the reorganized functions in blindness, and used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate verbal semantic processing. We found temporally equivalent but spatially different activation across the blind and the sighted. In the blind, the occipital cortex had a unique contribution to semantic category discrimination. However, the cerebral implementation of semantic categories was more variable in the blind than in the sighted. Our results advance the knowledge about brain.

<p>Individuals with diabetes and blindness meet problems in daily life that are related to both conditions. The aim was to study diabetes self-management, burden of diabetes, power, sense of coherence (SOC) and health among individuals with diabetes-related blindness. The aim was further to determine psychometric properties of a diabetes empowerment scale (DES) and to use it in the evaluation of an empowerment programme. The participants were 39 blind diabetic and non-diabetic individuals and 21 diabetic individuals with threat of blindness. A convenience sample of 195 diabetic patients completed DES and 9 blind diabetic individuals participated in the empowerment programme. Two reference groups from the Swed-qual population studies were also included. Data were collected by questionnaires, interviews and by scrutinizing medical records. Quantitative data were analyzed with parametric and non-parametric methods and qualitative data with content analysis. Blind diabetic individuals expressed more problems with self-management than did those with threat of blindness. In some health domains, blind diabetic individuals perceived significantly poorer health than did non-diabetic blind individuals. There were though individual differences in how blind individuals perceived their health as well as how burdensome they experienced their self-management. Individuals with power and strong SOC felt less burden and perceived better health when compared to those with weak SOC or non-power. The diabetes empowerment scale showed acceptable validity and reliability and was used, along with qualitative interviews, to evaluate the effect of the empowerment programme. Evaluation of the programme showed that the participants had improved knowledge and awareness of self-management. The programme seems suitable for blind individuals and creates an inspiring learning climate enhancing empowerment. It is concluded that blind individuals have problems in their diabetes self-management and perceive poor health but the experience of power is a factor of importance for health and an empowerment education programme may enhance power.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of grown-up blind people’s non-verbal communication, including body expressions and paralinguistic (voice) expressions. More specifically, the thesis includes the following three studies: Blind people’s different forms of body expressions, blind people’s non-verbal conversation regulation and blind people’s experience of their own non-verbal expressions. The focus has been on the blind participants’ competence and on their subjective perspectives. I have also compared congenitally and adventitiously blind in all of the studies. The approach is mainly phenomenological and the qualitative empirical phenomenological psychological method is the primary methodological source of inspiration. Fourteen blind persons (and also some sigthed persons) participated. They have no other obvious disability than the blindness and their ages vary between 18 and 54. Data in the first two studies consisted of video recordings and data in the last study consisted of interviews. The overall results can be summarized in the following three points: 1. There are (almost) only similarities between the congenitally blind and adventitiously blind persons concerning their paralinguistic expressions. 2. There are mainly similarities between the two groups with respect to the occurrences of different body expressive forms. 3. There are also some differences between the groups. For example, the congenitally blind persons seem to have a limited ability to use the body in an abstract and symbolic way and they often mentioned that they have been told that their body expressions deviate from sighted people’s norms. But the persons in both groups also struggle to see themselves as unique persons who express themselves on the basis of their conditions and their previous experiences.

Individuals with diabetes and blindness meet problems in daily life that are related to both conditions. The aim was to study diabetes self-management, burden of diabetes, power, sense of coherence (SOC) and health among individuals with diabetes-related blindness. The aim was further to determine psychometric properties of a diabetes empowerment scale (DES) and to use it in the evaluation of an empowerment programme. The participants were 39 blind diabetic and non-diabetic individuals and 21 diabetic individuals with threat of blindness. A convenience sample of 195 diabetic patients completed DES and 9 blind diabetic individuals participated in the empowerment programme. Two reference groups from the Swed-qual population studies were also included. Data were collected by questionnaires, interviews and by scrutinizing medical records. Quantitative data were analyzed with parametric and non-parametric methods and qualitative data with content analysis. Blind diabetic individuals expressed more problems with self-management than did those with threat of blindness. In some health domains, blind diabetic individuals perceived significantly poorer health than did non-diabetic blind individuals. There were though individual differences in how blind individuals perceived their health as well as how burdensome they experienced their self-management. Individuals with power and strong SOC felt less burden and perceived better health when compared to those with weak SOC or non-power. The diabetes empowerment scale showed acceptable validity and reliability and was used, along with qualitative interviews, to evaluate the effect of the empowerment programme. Evaluation of the programme showed that the participants had improved knowledge and awareness of self-management. The programme seems suitable for blind individuals and creates an inspiring learning climate enhancing empowerment. It is concluded that blind individuals have problems in their diabetes self-management and perceive poor health but the experience of power is a factor of importance for health and an empowerment education programme may enhance power.

In this work , I analyze the emergence of a series of Supreme Court cases in the Rehnquist and Roberts era which frame race-conscious legislation as discriminatory against whites; and which are responded to by the conservative justices as though anticlassification and reverse-discrimination are indeed rights claims. I analyze the response of the conservative justices to such claims, and posit that response of the conservative Justices to such cases constitutes activism. Further, the emergence of these cases can be attributed to the entrenchment of a colorblind narrative that is by its very nature not grounded in social reality, or historical context; and which aims to elevate the privileges of whiteness into rights. The implications of these narratives and conservative judicial activism will have monumental consequences for minority populations of color in the country.

My dissertation explores non-visual experiences of film through a study of the recurring cinematic figure of the blind heroine in three periods of US cinema - late silent, classical, post-studio. My analysis of films, multi-sensory film "spectatorship" and film production critically depart from the readings offered by semiotic and psychoanalytic film theory, in favor of theories of cinematic perception and theories of genre, namely, melodrama and suspense. My approach reorients theories of film that have explained cinema as an exclusively visual culture towards a broader consideration of sensory perception and film experience.Attention to Helen Keller, as an author and a cinematic protagonist, and to the ability of the figure of the blind heroine to reorganize the structure of the films that address her frames my discussion of modern film form. Film has attempted to represent the spatial, tactile and aural experiences of gendered blind protagonists for sighted viewers - to visually produce non-visual experiences and to move beyond the limitations of its own technologies. In each of the technological periods I examine, film uses cinematography that addresses the body, sonic and visual attention to texture and movement, and narrative and affective structures of melodrama and suspense, to create the audience's aesthetic experience. My work explores the ways in which cinema has been multi-sensory, embodied, and "not-visual" - that is, visual but also more than visual - through critical evaluation of the dominant arguments of film theory, formal analysis of films, and historical accounts of film production.Keller's work and the films I examine offer a theory of the modern phenomenological subject - a subject whose senses are not, finally, located within the body of the individual but are shared with, and borrowed from, the world of human and cinematic bodies they encounter. / Dissertation