This study aimed to improve acceptance of disability and self-esteem of
visually impaired teenagers by applying therapeutic recreation group
counseling program designed suitably for visually impaired teenagers.
This study was conducted for 8 male t...
This study aimed to improve acceptance of disability and self-esteem of
visually impaired teenagers by applying therapeutic recreation group
counseling program designed suitably for visually impaired teenagers.
This study was conducted for 8 male teenagers with visual impairment
attending school for the blind by selecting middle and high school students
group from a church A for the blind in Seoul. The period of study was
from Sunday on September 4 to Sunday on October 2. This study was
composed of 8 sessions with 90 minutes spent for one session. For
preliminary inspection, 'self-esteem inspection' and 'acceptance of disability
inspection' were conducted for all the group members on October 4. The
ex-post inspection was conducted for all the group members with the same inspection tool on October 2. To achieve the aim of this thesis,
non-disabled young men and teenagers were selected as guides for the
program so that visually impaired teenagers could take an active and
leading participation in therapeutic recreation group counseling program.
For more specific results, a preliminary investigation was conducted for
objects of study about their disease name of visual impairment, possibility
of independent walking, age, grade, living or not living in a dormitory and
family background, etc. And then this study investigated what differences
occurred in their self-esteem and acceptance of disability after
implementing therapeutic recreation group counseling program.
The result of this study is following.
First, according to the result of pre and ex-post inspection, total scores
of self-esteem and acceptance of disability improved in all the teenagers
with visual impairment.
Second, change of the total scores of pre and ex-post inspection of
self-esteem and change of scores in sub-areas were observed. After
therapeutic recreation group counseling program, total scores of
self-esteem improved in all members of the group. And all members
showed improved scores in sub-area of self-esteem inspection, such as
'self-depreciation', 'relationship with others', 'leadership and popularity'
and 'self-assertiveness and anxiety'.
Third, the change of total scores in pre and ex-post inspection of
acceptance of disability and the change of scores in sub-areas were
observed. After therapeutic recreation group counseling program, total
scores of all members of group improved, too. But in 'subordination of
physique' of sub-areas, student A and B did not show changes in scores
between pre and ex-post inspections. And student F did not show change in scores in pre and ex-post inspection in the part of 'containment of
disability effects'. This shows that this program did not have effective
influence on 'subordination of physique' and 'containment of disability
effects'.
Fourth, according to the result of pre and ex-post inspection for
acceptance of disability, student E and H, who cannot do independent
walking, showed great improvement in the score of acceptance of
disability. Considering this result, it can be found that this therapeutic
recreation group counseling program, containing not only many static
programs but also many dynamic programs, can have a positive effect on
visually impaired teenagers who cannot do independent walking.
Fifth, it was found that acceptance of disability and self-esteem of
visually impaired teenagers improved together through this therapeutic
recreation group counseling program. And this shows that the
improvement of acceptance of disability is associated with the improvement
of self-esteem. Therefore, acceptance of disability of visually impaired
teenagers can influence their self-esteem and their self-esteem can also
influence their acceptance of disability.
Considering all these results, therapeutic recreation group counseling
program is effective in improving acceptance of disability and self-esteem
of visually impaired teenagers. Therefore, this study expects that
therapeutic recreation group counseling program will be used positively for
improvement of acceptance of disability and self-esteem in the future.