A Comparative Study of Reading Speed
between Visually Impaired and Sighted Students

Panicha Jitsodsaikul¹, Wiraman Niyomphol², Issawara Sirirungruang³

¹panichabow@gmail.com

Abstract

The purposes of this study are (1) to survey the reading speed of visually impaired and sighted students and (2) to compare the difference in the reading speed between visually impaired and sighted students.

The sample groups in this research were divided into 2 groups including visually impaired students and sighted students studying in 4 mainstream secondary schools providing inclusive education for visually impaired students in Bangkok area. The sample group of sighted students were recruited at random while the sample group of visually impaired students were all recruited for data collection. Each sample group consisted of 21 students, totaling 42 students. The research instruments used in this study were an article and a reading report form. The researcher asked the visually impaired students to read the Braille article and the sighted students to read the same article in print. The article used was taken from the article of the 14th National Braille Reading & Writing Contest (year 2009) of Ratchasuda College Mahidol University.

The results of this study showed that the visually impaired students took significantly more time to read than sighted students at a statistical confidence level of 95%. The data of this research showed that the average reading time of sighted students was 6.26 minutes while the average reading time of the visually impaired students was 17.13 minutes. The average reading speed of sighted students was 121.53 words per minute (wpm) while the average reading speed of the students with visual impairments was 51.82 wpm. From this data, it was found that the reading speed of sighted students was 2.35 times faster than the reading speed of the visually impaired students. Reading performance differences can be used as a recommendation for setting standards for increasing examination time for Braille reading students.

Keywords: Visually Impaired Students, Sighted Students, Braille, Reading Speed