Document Type : Original Article
Researcher
PhD student in Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran.
Ministerial Ethics Committee
The present study aims to develop and validate an intervention program for empowering mobility and orientation and to assess its effectiveness on stereotyped behaviors and social competence of students with visual impairment. Visual impairment imposes significant limitations on mobility, social interaction, and personal independence in these students. Enhancing mobility and orientation skills can serve as a foundation for reducing isolation and dependency while promoting greater social participation. In the first stage, through a systematic review of previous studies and extraction of effective components from related educational programs, the theoretical and content framework of the new intervention program will be designed. In the next stage, the program will be validated in terms of reliability and validity and then implemented to evaluate its impact on cognitive and behavioral indicators among blind and low‑vision students. The research design is mixed‑method (qualitative–quantitative); in the quantitative phase, a quasi‑experimental design with pre‑test and post‑test and control group with follow‑up assessment will be applied. The sample will include 60 students with visual impairment from special schools in Tehran. The research instruments consist of the Social Competence Questionnaire and the Stereotyped Behavior Scale, and data will be analyzed using multivariate covariance and repeated‑measures tests in SPSS. It is expected that implementing this intervention program will enhance personal independence, reduce stereotyped behaviors, and improve social and communicative skills in students with visual impairment.