The Self-Concepts of Visually Impaired and Normally Sighted Middle School Children

The self-concepts of visually impaired (n = 61) and normally sighted (n = 229) American school children in Grades 6, 7, and 8 were compared. Self-concept was measured with the Student Self-Assessment Inventory (SSAI; Muller, Larned, Leonetti, & Muller, 1984, 1986), which assesses children's self-knowledge, self-ideal, and self-esteem as related to physical maturity, peer relations, academic success, and school adaptiveness. Visually impaired students scored higher than normally sighted children on 5 of the 12 SSAI subscales, refuting the notion that visually impaired children have poorer self-concepts than normally sighted children.