The Assessment of the Physical Quality of Environment in Kindergarten Design for Visually Impaired Children

The visually impaired individuals should get education in spaces where their needs are met so that they become an active member of society. Since the personal development is established during pre-school years in particular, designing appropriate educational environments for visually impaired children should be given importance. This study aims to propose a method for the assessment of the physical quality of kindergartens for visually impaired children. The principles of “Professional Environmental Assessment Scale” which allows examining the space systematically are taken as a basis. As part of the scale’s fundamental issues, questions were formed for analyzing visually impaired children’s spaces. Observational assessments were carried out in two kindergartens in Bursa. It was determined that kindergartens’ physical environments were inadequate in meeting children’s needs. One kindergarten was close to low level of support (20%-40%) and the other was close to moderate level of support (40%-60%). For the physical environment to support children’s development in kindergartens that are to be designed for visually impaired children, the environmental support level should be elevated to the “extra ordinarily high level” defined in the scale. In this context, the assessment questions defined in the study should be given importance in design processes.