The project was conducted to make an online tutoring program for math word problem solving accessible to students with visual impairments (VI). An online survey of teachers of students with VI (TVIs) guided the decision to provide the math content in the form of an iPad app, accompanied by print and braille materials. The app includes audio…

This article describes the research project carried out with a blind student, who studied French at a public university. The pedagogical experience over three years began in a classroom when a foreign language teacher and educator felt herself "handicapped," as she had not been prepared for working with blind people. In order to put her…

Arguing the issue of fairness and the additional advantage for test takers with visual impairments, some professionals have expressed negative attitudes toward test accommodation. However, researchers have found that the validity of test accommodations increases when the test scores of students who need a particular accommodation increases, while…

NCTM (2000) described geometry as "a means of describing, analyzing, and understanding the world and seeing beauty in its structures" (p. 309). Dossey et al. (2002) captured the essence of this aspect of visualization by stating that geometry fosters in students an ability to "visualize and mentally manipulate geometric objects." (p. 200).…

Instructors of the visually impaired need efficient braille-training methods. This study conducted a preliminary evaluation of a computer-based program intended to teach the relation between braille characters and English letters using a matching-to-sample format with 4 sighted college students. Each participant mastered matching visual depictions…

We would describe teaching literacy through braille as one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of the role of a Qualified Teacher for the Visually Impaired (QTVI). This article focuses on teaching literacy through braille in mainstream settings whilst promoting inclusion and meeting the social-emotional needs of children who use braille.…

This article reports on a certification examination for teachers of students with visual impairments--the National Literary Braille Competency Test (NLBCT). It discusses the history, development, pilot testing, and validation of NLBCT and the creation of the National Certification in Literary Braille. Data on the current administration of the test…

This article reports the results of data from 114 writing samples of 39 children who read braille and who were included in the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille (ABC) Study between 2002 and 2005. Writing characteristics, miscues, and composition characteristics are analyzed, and two case studies are included. (Contains 1 box and 2 tables.)

In the current study we investigated word, pseudoword and story reading in Dutch speaking braille and print readers. To examine developmental patterns, these reading skills were assessed in both children and adults. The results reveal that braille readers read less accurately and fast than print readers. While item length has no impact on word…

Introduction: This study gathered data on methods and materials that are used to teach the Nemeth braille code, computer braille, foreign-language braille, and music braille in 26 university programs in the United States and Canada that prepare teachers of students with visual impairments. Information about instruction in the abacus and the…

Introduction: This article reports on a study that explored the benefits and drawbacks of using spatially positioned synthesized speech in auditory interfaces for computer users who are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision). The study was a practical application of such systems--an enhanced word processing application compared…

Introduction: The study presented here investigated the ways in which students who read braille were able to complete geometric tasks and how they constructed mental representations of the shapes of objects. Methods: Data were collected in an educational experiment conducted as a geometry course for students who read braille. A case study approach…

Similar to many sighted children who struggle with learning to read, a proportion of blind children have specific difficulties related to reading braille which cannot be easily explained. A lot of research has been conducted to investigate the perceptual and cognitive processes behind (impairments in) print reading. Very few studies, however, have…

The aim of this study is to compare reading performance between visually impaired and normally sighted school children. Participants (n = 299) were divided into three groups: normal vision (NV, n = 193), visually impaired print reader (PR, n = 52), and Braille reader (BR, n = 54). Reading performance was determined by measuring reading rate and…

The findings from a sample of 22 young children with visual impairments and no additional disabilities suggest that potential readers of braille or dual media had better syllable-segmentation, sound-isolation, and sound-segmentation skills than potential readers of print. Potential readers of print seemed to have slightly better…