High proficiency in some aspects of executive function as a possible resource for compensatory functioning of people with visual impairment – preliminary findings

Introduction and objective: The loss of vision quality during life is associated with a complex process of adaptation to a new life situation. Resources (personality traits, social support, cognitive condition) play an important role in adapting to visual impairment. Scarce data suggest better performance of executive functions in people with visual disabilities, especially the blind, compared to sighted individuals. There is a lack of reports on executive functions that consider the people with acquired blindness and visually impaired people. The aim of the study was to compare sighted people and those with different types of visual disability (congenital blind, acquired blind and visually impaired) on selected aspects of executive functions, their self-assessment, and to analyse their demographic correlates. Materials and methods: The study was conducted among 21 adults with visual disability and 21 sighted individuals. The following tests and questionnaires were used: Digit Span from the WAIS-R battery, verbal fluency tests, the go/no-go experimental task and the DEX-S questionnaire from the BADS battery. Results: People with visual impairments, as a whole group, performed significantly better on some tasks involving executive functions compared to sighted people. Consideration of types of visual impairment showed qualitative intergroup differences in the performance of tasks involving executive functions. Sighted people reported more complaints on the DEX-S questionnaire. Associations were found between age, number of years of education and duration of visual disability and performance on some tests. Conclusions: The obtained results suggest that executive functions may provide significant support for the functioning of people with visual impairments.