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Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision

Special Projects

Research Projects

Transition Services that Lead to Competitive Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Blindness or Other Visual Impairments

(Cavenaugh, Crudden, Giesen, LeJeune, McDonnall & Sansing, PIs)

Although young adults who are blind or visually impaired have higher levels of education than their peers with other disabilities, they are less likely than their peers to be employed. Scientifically based research is needed to facilitate changes in educational and rehabilitation programs to improve employment and other postsecondary outcomes of transition-age individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University (MSU) proposes to establish a Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP) on Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) to conduct scientifically based research on transition services that lead to competitive employment outcomes for transition-age individuals with blindness or other visual impairments.

A highly qualified multi-disciplinary team of project staff and experts in transition has been assembled to execute the proposed project. All research and dissemination activities will be closely coordinated with the RRTC on Measuring Rehabilitation Outcomes and Effectiveness, the Research Triangle Institute, the Office of Special Education Programs, and the Study Group, Inc. in North Carolina, including its subcontractor, which is managing the VR Transition Study for the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The proposed DRRP will address the needs of individuals with disabilities from minority backgrounds and will involve individuals who are blind or have severe visual impairments in planning, implementing, and evaluating project activities.

Activities

Four major research projects and a plan of dissemination are proposed:

Project 1 involves conducting an integrative (systematic) literature review to identify and synthesize research on services leading to successful employment and other postsecondary outcomes for blind youth. The review process is considered empirical research and will be approached with the scientific rigor used when conducting primary research.

Project 2 includes analysis of five national cross-sectional and longitudinal data sources to explore relationships between potential causes or influencing factors and positive transition outcomes of youth who are blind or visually impaired. Specialized approaches used in analysis of the longitudinal data sources will allow opportunity for causal inferences.

Project 3 uses qualitative and quantitative methods in the collection of data from a variety of sources (focus groups with rehabilitation professionals, teachers, post-secondary support service providers, SSA representatives, and others; interviews with consumers; VR case records). Factors that impact the employment status of transition-age youth will be identified.

Project 4 involves using knowledge gained from Projects 1, 2, and 3 to identify and develop, demonstrate, and evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions—one targeting youth who are preparing to transition from high school to employment or college and the other targeting youth who are preparing to transition from college to employment. In implementing the plan of dissemination, a variety of methods are proposed to help ensure that the quality, clarity, and accessibility of products are appropriate for the target population.

Outputs and outcomes

Measurable outputs and outcomes have been identified in the proposed project. Outputs include development of a minimum of eight peer-reviewed manuscripts, one monograph, six paper presentations, four consumer magazine articles, three newsletters, and four data collection protocols. In addition, two interventions will be developed, demonstrated, and evaluated, and an intervention evaluation methodology will be developed and tested.

Outcomes include (a) increased knowledge about factors that influence successful transition outcomes, (b) development of a conceptual model, or theory, to explain and predict transition outcomes, and (c) improved outcomes for transition-age individuals with blindness or other visual impairments.

Persons Aging with Hearing and Vision Loss

A federally funded Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP) This is a five year collaborative project with the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf -Blind Youth and Adults and San Diego State University addresses issues related to persons who are aging with hearing and vision loss. (LeJeune, Sansing, McDonnall, & Sitka, PIs)

Priority 1. Investigate the prevalence of age-related onset of deafness among older American blind individuals and age-related onset of blindness among older American deaf individuals, and the impact on the employment and community integration options, including more viable communication systems for each population

Priority 2. Identify and evaluate technology and service delivery options, such as transportation, housing, and community integration activities for individuals with hearing and vision loss and their effectiveness with persons experiencing secondary sensory loss resulting from aging.

Priority 3. Identify and evaluate access to use of technologies, including assistive devices and telecommunication or other existing communication systems, such as tactile interpreter support, needed to assist persons with early onset deafness or blindness and late onset hearing or vision loss and their effectiveness with persons experiencing secondary sensory loss resulting from aging.

Priority 4. Using available dissemination mechanisms, with appropriate assistive technical modification, disseminate findings, and develop strategies to educate both consumers and providers, especially vocational rehabilitation workers, in use of the these techniques.

The Effects of School Climate and Supports on Mathematics Achievement for Students with Visual Impairments

(Cavenaugh, McDonnall, & Giesen, PIs)

This project will document the effects of school climate, including policies and practices related to teacher supports, student supports, and support for family involvement, and other contextual and individual factors on mathematics achievement for elementary and middle school students with visual impairments. The population of study is the sample of visually impaired students in the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS), a nationally-representative longitudinal database of elementary and middle school students with disabilities.

The primary outcome variable, mathematics achievement, is measured by two subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement (i.e., Calculation and Applied Problems). The school climate measure in this study includes teacher reported supports to teach special needs students, expectations of the school leadership, promotion of instructional improvement, and safety of the school. Teacher supports include the student-to-teacher ratio and the availability of assistance to general education teachers when special education students are in their classes.

Student supports include specific academic supports provided (e.g., tutoring), availability of a peer support program for students with disabilities, and provision of vision services and assistive technology services. Support for family involvement is measured by the number of policies and practices a school uses to encourage family involvement. Other factors include reading medium (i.e., use of braille, large print, or regular print), family involvement, school SES, student self-concept and attitude, and demographic and disability-related factors (e.g., family SES, race/ethnicity, gender, age, presence of cognitive disability).

The above noted school-related effects on mathematics achievement will be evaluated controlling for the possible moderating effects of demographic and disability-related background variables and other appropriate factors. Research methods include descriptive analyses and longitudinal hierarchical regression-based analyses of level of achievement and rate of change in achievement as a function of school climate, support, and contextual factors. Data analysis strategy includes descriptive examination of all measures followed by analysis of achievement levels and longitudinal change using multilevel modeling, specifically individual growth curve modeling.

Structural equation modeling methods will also be employed to evaluate covariance structural relationships and investigate direct and mediated effects of support and contextual factors on the mathematics achievement of students with visual impairments. Results are expected to reveal which school climate, supports, and contextual factors are important for mathematics achievement, and for improvements in mathematics achievement, for visually impaired students. Explanatory information for effects will emerge and how effects may change depending upon braille use and other background factors. In general, effects will point to the most important factors related to improvement in achievement and the circumstances that may change the salience of the identified factors. Thus, the most important targets for interventions or changes in policy or practice will be revealed.

Moderators of Depressive Symptoms for Older Adults with Dual Sensory Loss

Funded by the National Institute on Aging

(McDonnall, PI)

Project Overview

A much larger proportion of older persons with dual sensory loss experience syndromal or subsyndromal depression compared to the general population. As depression is associated with reduced quality of life and the incidence of dual sensory loss is rising with the increasing life span in the United States, this presents an important public health concern in this country. The population of older persons who acquire dual sensory loss later in life has, to date, received little attention by researchers. For example, currently nothing is known about the longitudinal effects of acquiring dual sensory loss on depression. Also, we do not know why many older people with dual sensory loss experience depression or its symptoms, while many others do not experience negative effects in this area.

Determining the reason for these differences is important. Of particular importance is detecting reasons that are adaptable (i.e., ones that can be changed by the individual), as these factors may give individuals some ability to control their own outcomes. If factors are identified that can reduce the negative effect of dual sensory loss on depression, interventions could be developed to directly assess the ability of changes in these areas to decrease the psychological dysfunction associated with dual sensory loss. A first step in this direction is identifying adaptable factors that can reduce the negative effect of dual sensory loss on depression.

Given the lack of research with this population in this area, I will first investigate how acquiring a dual sensory loss affects symptoms of depression over time. After determining this, the ability of adaptable factors to moderate the relationship will be investigated. Therefore, the primary goals of this project are to:

  1. Determine the effects over time of acquiring a dual sensory loss on subsyndromal depression.
  2. Determine whether identified adaptable factors can moderate the negative effect of dual sensory loss on subsyndromal depression.

Project Summary

Dual sensory loss (i.e., combined hearing and vision loss) is a condition that affects a substantial portion of older adults in the United States. Several negative outcomes have been associated with this condition, including psychological dysfunction, particularly the increased experience of syndromal or subsyndromal depression. Because of the multiple adverse effects associated with depression, the experience of this condition among persons with dual sensory loss (DSL) warrants attention. The primary aims of this project are to: 1) Determine the effects over time of acquiring a DSL on subsyndromal depression, and 2) Determine whether identified adaptable factors can moderate the negative effect of DSL on subsyndromal depression.

The factors that will be tested as to their potential moderating effect are physical status and participation in productive activities, each of which will be measured with three variables. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Aging and Health Dynamics study (AHEAD) data (from years 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004) will used to conduct the research. The sample will include persons who self-report development of a DSL during the course of data collection and a comparison group of persons without sensory loss matched on age (N=3,024). Hierarchical linear modeling will be used to analyze the data. Individual growth curve models will determine (a) the average rate of change in depressive symptoms, (b) the individual variability in change in depressive symptoms over time, and (c) the effects of physical status and participation in productive activities on trajectories of depressive symptoms for this population.

This research will inform professionals in the sensory loss fields and general service-providers (e.g., doctors, social workers, psychologists) about the longitudinal relationship between DSL and depression, about which nothing is currently known. Further, it will determine whether specific adaptable factors related to physical status and productive activities are associated with lower levels of subsyndromal depression for older adults who develop DSL. Identification of adaptable factors that have the ability to reduce or prevent this negative outcome is an important first step in developing interventions that can directly assess the ability of changes in these factors to decrease the psychological dysfunction associated with DSL.

Program Evaluations and Needs Assessments

Annual Title VII-Chapter 2 Program Evaluation Contracts — State program evaluations of Independent Living for Older Blind Persons and their overall effectiveness, consumer satisfaction and outcomes.

  • Alabama (Sansing, PI)
  • Arkansas (Cavenaugh, PI)
  • Georgia (Sansing, PI)
  • Massachusetts (LeJeune, PI)
  • Missouri (Sansing, PI)
  • New Jersey (LeJeune, PI)
  • Utah (Sansing, PI)
  • Virginia (Sansing, PI)

National Center for Mentoring Excellence Project Program Evaluation, Jernigan Institute of the National Federation of the Blind — Annual evaluation of 5-year multi-state mentoring project. (PIs Cavenaugh, McDonnall, & Giesen)

A Statewide Assessment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Needs of Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired in Florida. (PIs McDonnall, Crudden, Sansing, Cavenaugh)

Refereed Journal Publications

McDonnall, M. C., & LeJeune, B.J. (2008). Employment among older adults with combined hearing and vision loss. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 39(3), 3-9.

Capella-McDonnall, M. E. (2008). The Ticket to Work program and beneficiaries with blindness or low vision: Characteristics of beneficiaries who assign their tickets and preliminary outcomes. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 51(2), 85-95.

Moore J E, & LeJeune BJ. (2008). Low vision. In: JH Stone, M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. Available online: http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/article.php?id=17&language=en.

Refereed Journal Publications - In Press

McDonnall, M. C., & Crudden, A. (in press). Factors impacting employment success for transition-age youth with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

McDonnall, M. C. (in press). Risk factors for depression among older adults with dual sensory loss. Aging and Mental Health.

Chapters in Edited Books

Moore, J. E., Wolffe, K. E., & McDonnall, M. C. (in press). Employment considerations for adults with low vision. In A. L. Corn & A. J. Koenig (Eds.), Foundations of low vision: Clinical and functional perspectives. New York: AFB Press.