Confidence and Expectations Among Parents of and Students with Visual Impairments
Early work experiences and education level predict future employment for students with visual impairments, but many neither work in high school nor obtain a college degree. A research team developed 4to24, an application (app) for students with visual impairments and their parents, to support students’ transitions to employment, beginning in preschool. The purpose of this study was to explore parents’ and students’ confidence and expectations before and after using the app for six months. The sample was comprised of 24 parents of children with visual impairments and 19 students with visual impairments. Participants rated their confidence in their child’s or their own skills in seven domains and reported their expectations for future education, employment, and independence. We used descriptive statistics to summarize participants’ confidence and expectations, and we examined changes in these measures over time. After using 4to24, participants increased their confidence significantly in three areas: community travel, using public transportation, and self-care. Frequency of app use coincided with increased confidence in several domains and with increased expectations for educational attainment. The results provide initial evidence of associations between app use and increases in confidence and expectations for future postsecondary education; however, we cannot draw conclusions about causality from this exploratory study. The 4to24 app provides free information, resources, and activity suggestions directly to students and parents. It can be beneficial for encouraging collaboration with practitioners, promoting high confidence and expectations, and reinforcing students’ skills.Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
Application for Practitioners
In the United States, many high school students with disabilities receive federally mandated services that aim to support their transitions to postsecondary education and employment. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates that students with disabilities begin receiving transition services by the age of 16 years. Students with disabilities may also receive transition services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014). However, preparation for the transition to adulthood should begin much earlier than high school for students with disabilities, including students with visual impairments (Crudden, 2012; Landmark et al., 2022).
Children with visual impairments also need sequential, systematic instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) to develop the concepts and skills that sighted children learn incidentally through visual observation (Hatlen, 1996; Sapp & Hatlen, 2010). The ECC includes the following nine areas: assistive technology, career education, compensatory skills, independent living skills, orientation and mobility (O&M), recreation and leisure, self-determination, sensory efficiency, and social interaction skills. Relationships between several ECC areas and postsecondary education or employment outcomes have been documented in the literature (Wolffe & Kelly, 2011). Starting ECC instruction in early childhood is instrumental in helping students develop critical prerequisite skills for postsecondary education and employment (Allman & Lewis, 2014; Nagle, 2001; Wolffe, 2007; Zabelski, 2007).
Youth with visual impairments have higher rates of postsecondary school attendance but lower postschool employment rates than do youth without visual impairments (McDonnall, 2010; Sanford et al., 2011). A systematic review of factors associated with employment for transition-age youth with visual impairments found some evidence supporting the benefits of the following variables: academic skills, assistive technology, career counseling, O&M, parental support, self-determination, and social skills (Lund & Cmar, 2020). The strongest and most consistent predictors of employment across studies were education level and early paid work experiences (Lund & Cmar, 2020). However, research indicates that most students with visual impairments did not work for pay during high school (Lipscomb et al., 2017) and that many who enrolled in college did not complete their education and obtain a degree (Miller et al., 2020; Richardson & Roy, 2002; Schuck et al., 2019).
Parents and families play a key role in transition preparation for students with disabilities (Hirano & Rowe, 2016), including students with visual impairments (Zabelski, 2007). The results of a multiple-case study revealed several family-related variables that may contribute to positive outcomes for young adults with learning disabilities: family involvement, family support and advocacy, and intentional career planning activities (Lindstrom et al., 2007). In another qualitative study, rehabilitation professionals identified facilitators of positive transition outcomes for students with visual impairments, including high parental expectations; parental involvement in career planning; and communication between parents, students, and service providers (Crudden, 2012). Both studies documented the need to balance parental support and advocacy with opportunities for students to develop self-determination, take responsibility for their lives, and learn from their mistakes (Crudden, 2012; Lindstrom et al., 2007). Despite the importance of the aforementioned factors, only 74% of students with visual impairments (age 17 years or older) and 64% of their parents attended a transition planning meeting, and some attended but provided little to no input (Lipscomb et al., 2017). Furthermore, some parents of students with visual impairments identified a lack of information about postsecondary education options, employment opportunities, and career planning as challenges for their children (Lipscomb et al., 2017).
Little research has focused on the relationship between student or parent confidence and transition outcomes for students with visual impairments. One study indicated that low student confidence may deter some students from enrolling in college (Reed & Curtis, 2012). Another study found that self-confidence in finding and using transportation is an important predictor of employment for young adults with visual impairments (Cmar, McDonnall, & Crudden, 2018).
Additional research has focused on expectations for the future held by students with disabilities and their parents. Students with disabilities had higher expectations than did their parents for postsecondary education, financial independence, and independent living (Kirby et al., 2019). Parent and student expectations predicted multiple outcomes for students with disabilities, including: (a) postsecondary school enrollment or completion (Doren et al., 2012; Johnson et al., 2022; Kirby et al., 2019; Schuck et al., 2019); (b) postschool employment (Cmar, 2015; Cmar, McDonnall, & Markoski, 2018; Doren et al., 2012; Kirby et al., 2019; Wehman et al., 2015); (c) financial independence (Kirby et al., 2019); and (d) independent living (Kirby et al., 2019).
Using a five-year, iterative, user-centered process, we developed 4to24, an application (app) to support the transition to postschool employment for students with visual impairments, aged 4to24 years (Antonelli et al., 2021). The overall aims of 4to24 include empowering parents to support their child’s development, improving parents’ expectations, and promoting students’ independence and confidence. The app provides parents and older students with targeted, user-friendly, informational modules that cover the numerous concepts and skills that students with visual impairments need for future employment, including but not limited to all areas of the ECC. The app has a library of more than 400 modules that are organized into 10 categories, and each module contains age-appropriate information, resources, and activity suggestions that relate to a given topic (Antonelli et al., 2021). The modules emphasize parental involvement throughout the student’s education and encourage ongoing communication and collaboration with service providers. The app delivers modules with accompanying push notifications to users over time, according to the student’s profile and the user’s interactions with the app (Antonelli et al., 2023).
The 4to24 app development process concluded with a six-month field test, during which parents and students tested the app and provided feedback. Most field test participants rated the app positively, and the findings supported its usability, its usefulness, and the relevance of its content (Steverson et al., 2022). This article presents the results of an exploratory study of field test participants’ confidence levels and expectations for future education, employment, and independence, both before and after app use. We examined the following research questions.
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How confident were parents of students with visual impairments in their children’s skills?
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How confident were students with visual impairments in their own skills?
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What were parents’ expectations for their children’s future education, employment, and independence?
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What were students’ expectations for their future education, employment, and independence?
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Did participants’ confidence and expectations change after six months of app use?
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Did participants’ confidence and expectations vary by frequency of app use?
Method
Procedure
The institutional review board at Mississippi State University reviewed and approved this study. Nationwide recruitment for the field test began in September 2019 via social media, an online participant registry, partner and consumer organizations, electronic mailing lists, and educational institutions. Inclusion criteria included having access to the Internet at least once per week and experience using phone or computer apps. Parent participants had to have a child between the ages of 4 and 24 years without a severe learning or cognitive disability who was eligible for special education, early intervention, or accommodations for visual impairment. Student participants had to be 16 to 24 years old, have a visual impairment, and either be receiving or be eligible to receive special education services or accommodations.
After completing a prescreening survey to determine eligibility, parents and students provided consent (or parental permission and assent). Then, they completed a pretest, downloaded the 4to24 app, used it for six months (from January to August of 2020), and completed a posttest. All surveys were administered via an accessible web-based survey platform. Participants received a $35 gift card after completion of the posttest. Overall, 139 individuals completed the prescreening survey, 127 met the eligibility criteria and were invited to participate, and 61 enrolled in the study.
Participants
This study included 43 participants who completed the pretest and posttest: 24 parents and 19 students from 23 states. One parent and one student were related. Most parent participants were women (n = 20, 83.3%). The parents’ age ranges were 25 to 34 years (n = 5, 20.8%), 35 to 44 years (n = 10, 41.7%), 45 to 54 years (n = 4, 16.7%), and 55 to 64 years (n = 5, 20.8%). Most parents (n = 17, 70.8%) had a two-year college degree or higher, and 79.2% (n = 19) earned $55,000 or more per year. The parent participants’ children’s ages ranged from 4 to 20 years (M = 11.38, SD = 3.98), whereas the student participants’ ages ranged from 16 to 22 years (M = 19.32, SD = 1.70). Table 1 provides additional demographic information about the children and the students.
Measures
Confidence
Participants responded to a seven-item confidence measure at pretest and at posttest. The items covered the following broad topics that were addressed through the app: (a) travel in the community with little or no assistance; (b) use public transit with little or no assistance; (c) use technology (including smartphone, computer, or assistive technology) with little or no assistance; (d) complete academic work; (e) have good social relationships; (f) work in a paid job; and (g) take care of self, as appropriate for age (such as bathing, grooming, meals, clothing, and household chores). Parents rated their confidence in their child’s ability to perform each task on a scale from 0 (not at all confident) to 10 (totally confident). For each item, parents could indicate that their child was too young for the task instead of rating their confidence. Students rated their confidence in their ability to perform each task using the same 0 to 10 scale.
Expectations
At pretest and at posttest, participants responded to questions regarding their expectations for future education, employment, and independence, and these questions were based on items from the National Longitudinal Transition Studies (NLTS; Burghardt et al., 2017; SRI International, 2000). Participants selected the highest level of schooling they thought they or, if parent participants, their child would complete from the following six options: (a) less than high school; (b) high school diploma or equivalent; (c) technical or trade school; (d) 2-year college; (e) 4-year college; and (f) master’s degree, Ph.D., or other advanced degree. As done by Lipscomb et al. (2017), we used this item to create two dichotomous variables (0 = no, 1 = yes) to measure participants’ expectations for (a) obtaining postsecondary education (i.e., technical or trade school or higher) and (b) obtaining a 4-year degree (i.e., 4-year college or higher).
Participants also rated how likely they or, if parent participants, their child would be to do the following by age 30: (a) earn enough to support themselves without financial help from family or government benefit programs, (b) work in a career of their choice, and (c) live on their own. The response options for these three questions were definitely will, probably will, probably won’t, and definitely won’t; however, we collapsed them into two categories for analysis: “definitely or probably will” and “definitely or probably won’t.”
Data Analysis
We used descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, and frequency) to summarize participants’ confidence ratings and expectations for the future at pretest and at posttest. To examine changes from pretest to posttest for the combined sample of parents and students, we conducted dependent samples t tests for the confidence items and exact McNemar’s tests for the expectations items. We also computed descriptive statistics for parents and students separately and by self-reported app use in the past two months (more than once a month versus once a month or less). All analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4.
Results
Table 2 provides descriptive statistics for the pretest and posttest confidence ratings and dependent samples t test results. Tables 3 and 4 present average confidence ratings for parents and students and by app use, respectively, at pretest and posttest. During the last 2 months of the field test, 8 (33.3%) parents and 10 (52.6%) students used the 4to24 app more than once a month, whereas 16 (66.7%) parents and 9 (47.4%) students used it once a month or less. Most confidence ratings were on the higher end of the scale, and most posttest confidence ratings were similar to or slightly higher than the corresponding pretest ratings. Participants’ confidence ratings increased significantly from pretest to posttest for three items: travel in the community, use public transportation, and take care of self. Despite those increases, community travel and public transit were the lowest-rated confidence items among parents and students. In several areas, increases in confidence corresponded with frequency of app use.
As shown in Table 5, there were no significant changes in participants’ expectations from pretest to posttest. Tables 6 and 7 present the expectations at each time point for parents and students and by app use, respectively. Parents and students generally had high expectations for the future. Participants who used the app more frequently had slightly higher ratings for the postsecondary education and 4-year degree items at posttest than at pretest.
Discussion
We used data from the 4to24 app field test to explore participants’ confidence levels and expectations for the future. Students with visual impairments and parents of students with visual impairments completed surveys before and after they used the 4to24 app for six months. Overall, participants had high confidence and expectations in most areas. After using the app, they had significant increases in confidence ratings for community travel, using public transportation, and self-care. Frequency of app use coincided with increased confidence in some areas and with increases in expectations for future educational attainment.
Parents and students had the highest confidence in technology use, academic work, and self-care. Students’ high confidence ratings are consistent with previous studies documenting high confidence and self-efficacy among students with visual impairments (Cmar & McDonnall, 2019; Farrand et al., 2018; Lipscomb et al., 2017). Participants had the lowest confidence in the two O&M-related skills: traveling in the community and using public transportation. Because we do not have objective measures of students’ skills, we cannot determine whether students’ and parents’ confidence ratings reflected their or their child’s, respectively, skill levels in these areas.
When exploring changes in confidence by app use, the overall pattern of results implies several differences. The average confidence ratings for participants who used the app more than once a month were higher at posttest than at pretest in five of the seven areas, but participants who used the app less frequently exhibited little to no changes in confidence. Considering that the field test overlapped with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the app could have been a beneficial resource for promoting ongoing learning and communication with service providers during this time. Participants who used the app more than once a month increased their confidence the most for the two O&M-related skills, despite the profound impact of the pandemic on O&M service provision and hands-on learning in community settings (Fast & Kaiser, 2022; Rosenblum et al., 2020). Our findings provide preliminary evidence of an association between more frequent app use and higher confidence; however, given the study design, we cannot determine whether the app caused these changes. Other potential explanations for participants’ increased confidence include (a) direct instruction and support from service providers; (b) learning and using new skills based on immediate needs (e.g., technologies for remote learning); and (c) increased family involvement in students’ education, unrelated to the app. Numerous factors could have hindered participants’ confidence, such as (a) changes or interruptions to services; (b) accessibility issues and other difficulties with remote learning; (c) a lack of opportunities or motivation to practice skills; and (d) effects of the pandemic on health, well-being, or family (Wild et al., 2022). Those factors could have also influenced participants’ frequency of app use.
At pretest and posttest, most students and parents had high expectations for their (or their child’s) future education, employment, and independence; however, the high values observed at pretest left little room for change during the field test. Participants’ high expectations regarding employment, financial self-support, and independent living support the estimates for students with visual impairments from NLTS 2012 (Lipscomb et al., 2017). Parents’ expectations regarding their children’s future education were comparable to or higher than national estimates, whereas students’ expectations for their future education were lower than national estimates (Lipscomb et al., 2017). Approximately 58% and 53% of students in our study expected to obtain a 4-year degree at pretest and at posttest, respectively, compared with 73% of students with visual impairments in NLTS 2012 (Lipscomb et al., 2017), which may relate to differences between the two samples. Still, students’ low educational expectations are concerning and need further investigation, considering that the completion of postsecondary education is a key predictor of employment for people with visual impairments (Lund & Cmar, 2019a, 2019b, 2020). Although we did not find any significant changes in expectations for the overall sample, our findings suggest that more frequent app use is associated with increases in expectations for educational attainment.
Limitations
Several limitations of this study are important to recognize when interpreting our results. One limitation relates to the size and composition of the field test sample. The sample was relatively small and was not intended to represent the larger population, which prohibited the use of statistical analyses to compare subgroups and may limit the generalizability of our findings. Furthermore, the surveys did not include questions about race, ethnicity, or level of vision. Because this study was exploratory and did not have a control group, we cannot draw conclusions about causality without additional research using an experimental design. Although the six-month field test was sufficient for evaluating the 4to24 app and users’ perceptions of it, a longer study would allow for extended interaction with the app and may provide further insight into changes in users’ expectations and subsequent transition outcomes. Finally, the field test’s overlap with the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to attrition, affected participants’ posttest responses, and reduced participants’ engagement with the app as they shifted their focus to their health, family, education, and other aspects of their lives that suddenly changed when the pandemic started.
Application for Practitioners
Despite these limitations, our results support the potential benefits of the 4to24 app for increasing parents’ and students’ confidence in several domains and their expectations for postsecondary education. Other ways by which service providers can promote high confidence and expectations of students and their parents include: (a) encouraging them to participate in support groups and join parent or consumer organizations, (b) connecting them with mentors and role models, and (c) facilitating opportunities for parental involvement. Long cane competitions, White Cane Awareness Day events, and similar community activities may be beneficial in increasing parents’ and students’ confidence related to O&M.
Given the promising findings from this study and the previous evidence of the 4to24 app’s content validity, usability, and relevance (Antonelli et al., 2021, 2023; Steverson et al., 2022), service providers may wish to share information about 4to24 with students and their families and encourage them to use it. The app contains content for several audiences: (a) parents of students aged 4 to 24 years with visual impairments, (b) students aged 16 to 24 years with visual impairments, and (c) parents of students ages 4 to 24 years who are deaf-blind and have additional disabilities (not included in this study). Parents and students can access the app online at 4to24.org or download it from the Google Play or iOS App stores. The app is entirely free to use; it does not require a subscription and does not contain advertisements or in-app purchases.
Although the 4to24 app cannot replace individualized instruction, it can complement that instruction by directly delivering to students and parents accessible, user-friendly information with links to resources and ideas for activities that students can complete at home and in the community. In addition to encouraging collaboration with service providers and reinforcing concepts and skills taught during lessons, 4to24 can promote learning during summer breaks or unplanned disruptions to services (e.g., severe weather, pandemics). Professionals who serve people with visual impairments can access the app content through a free online portal (nrtc.catalog.instructure.com/courses/4to24-app). This portal allows service providers to review the app modules that students and parents may receive across all ages and topic areas, which can assist with continuity between school-based instruction and the app.
Contributor Notes