Impact of Special Senses Disability and Coping Strategies among Disabled Persons at The Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo (Published)
Living with disability is common in many parts of the world and may results in psychological consequences for the individuals. This study examined the psychological, social and physical impacts of special senses disabilities and coping measures adopted by students with disabilities in Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo. The respondents were recruited using multistage sampling technique. A total of 313 respondents with different disabilities were selected using Taro Yamane’s correction formula. Pre-tested self-developed structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents based on the study objectives. The data was analysed using SPSS version 22 and the results were presented with frequency tables and charts. Findings revealed that 57.2% of the respondents often feel depressed while a combine 65.8% have constant anxiety. Over 70% of the respondents do not like going to social gatherings or parties because of their disability, and about 60% feel that they are at the centre of attraction when they are walking on the street. It was also revealed that 62% causes trouble when anyone tries to cheat them and 59.5% talk back at anyone who tries to insult them. 98.4% pray to cope with their disability, 56.5% always think about their disability and developed self-hatred. The students with special senses disability in this study are impacted psychologically, socially and physically in a negative way and they mostly adopted maladaptive coping measures. There is need to provide them with necessary resources to cope better with their disabilities.
Keywords: Coping, impairment, psycho-social consequence, students with special needs