Tactual profile, an assessment procedure for tactual functioning in children and adolescents

Abstract

Tactual Profile is an instrument that provides a procedure to assess tactual functioning in children who are blind or who have a severe visual impairment, from birth up to 15 years of age. The instrument concentrates on the tactual requirements that the everyday environment places on perception. Tactual Profile is based on practical experience checked against literature and developments in the scientific field of touch. The instrument has been outlined as a ‘structured observation’. Recently there has been a research on the reliability and validity of the instrument. The study has proved that Tactual Profile is a valid and reliable instrument that differentiates from intelligence tests.