Attitudes toward everyday odors for children with visual impairments: A pilot study
Résumé
The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot investigation of the self-reported awareness and reactivity to odors of children with visual impairments and sighted children. A questionnaire related to relevant everyday contexts involving food and social cues, as well as the general environment, was used to determine whether, and in which conditions, odors would constitute salient cues for children with visual impairments. This study found that the children with visual impairments reported that they paid more attention and reacted more often to odors than did the children who were sighted. They scored higher on a majority of items, especially those related to social and food odors. Although these results are preliminary, they provide a hint to encourage parents and teachers to pay more attention to the tendency of children with visual impairments to attend to odors in everyday life. (Contains 1 table.)