In a letter addressed to Helen Keller, the author discusses the frustrations of being blind in the modern-day world. She reflects on the seeming pettiness of her complaints next to the difficulties Keller would have faced, especially given all of the new technologies and accommodations available to the blind. She wonders how Keller dealt with her…

In order to fight against proposed federal budget cuts, blind persons and their advocates must have access to timely and authoritative information, refine their working knowledge of the legislative process, understand the role of coalitions, and be able to make legislators understand how proposed changes in law affect blind people. (Author/CL)

The article presents a rationale for providing early intervention services to visually handicapped infants, followed by a discussion of implications of home programs for educators. Among guidelines offered are that educators should serve as clearinghouses of information for families and emphasize incidental learning in the actual environment.…

The author, blind herself, looks back on her own adolescence and that of seven other women to give some impressions of the feelings and experiences of blind teenage girls and of their special problems with peers, dating, fashion, and makeup. (Author/CL)

The article links the roles of libraries and professional library staffs to the newly emerging consciousness of the "library rights" of blind and print handicapped persons throughout the world. (Author)

The author discusses the needs of houseparents in residential centers for the blind and the strides that are being made by national associations to meet those needs. Increased articles on the subject in journals and a membership campaign to encourage participation of houseparents in their association are suggested. (PHR)

Discusses author's experiences as a blind person and the impacts of his disease, retinitis pigmentosa. Discusses tension between desired independence and necessary dependence. (ABL)

Describes the experiences of a man who, after suddenly becoming blind, became a successful auto mechanics teacher. (Author)

Carl Augusto, currently president and executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), describes his personal and professional experience with the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and the talking books program. Topics discussed include AFB's history with its own talking book program founded…

Contends that blindness is not a single clinical determinant, but, rather, that two groups of blind people exist. For those congenitally blind, lack of vision can cause developmental difficulties. For those who later acquire blindness, the premorbid psychodynamics and object relationships are most important in understanding the persons' reactions…

The article develops two contrasting themes: (1) the prime importance of braille as the medium of literacy available to blind persons; and (2) the widely perceived deemphasis of braille instruction in the United States. Resolutions of the American Council of the Blind encouraging increased and improved braille instruction are summarized.…

The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM; 2000) encourages students to experience mathematics in multiple contexts, including science, history, physical education, business sciences, and agricultural sciences. All educators, including professionals such as orientation and mobility specialists who work with students who are visually…

The author examines the history of segregation for blind and handicapped persons and the relationship of segregation to social attitudes and opportunities. He also questions the relevance of sheltered workshops today. The El Paso Lighthouse "enclave with industry" program is presented as one model for moving toward a "natural proportion"…

The article examines shortcomings in existing objective measures of mobility for blind persons in the light of evaluative experiences and demonstrates improvements in reliability, together with a new technique for tracking pavement position. It refutes the idea that it is not possible to measure improvement in performance objectively. (Author/CL)

A man who lost his sight at age 63 recommends that rehabilitation of newly blinded persons should include development of remembered or created visual experiences through "videation" and explains the need of mental images for blind persons to adapt to their environment. (MC)