This brief report provides information on the present demographic status of the Chinese population, the status of Chinese people with disabilities, and future trends, including a gradual rise in the numbers of people with disabilities and a decline in the proportion of those disabled with visual impairments. (DB)

This paper outlines the responsibilities of rehabilitation teachers working with individuals who are blind or visually impaired. University rehabilitation teaching guidelines approved by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired are summarized. Guidelines cover administrative requirements, faculty,…

This paper draws on primary and secondary data sources to document an increasing number of visually handicapped children. The paper discusses socioeconomic trends, increased rates of handicapping conditions in general, increased number of legally blind schoolchildren, and evidence of an increase in retinopathy of prematurity. (JDD)

This article describes a device, the Visual Hand Display, used by pediatric ophthalmologists at the Children's Low Vision Center (Boston) to evaluate a child's postoperative visual functioning. The device consists of different sized black stripes on white circles and a face. (DB)

Describes an eight-dot computer Braille notation, COBRA, with integrated mathematical and scientific notation that achieves immediate print-Braille compatibility through one-to-one representation of letters and other characters. Text can be entered from the Braille or the Qwerty Keyboard and can be viewed simultaneously on the Braille display and…

A chart compares provisions regarding vision-related services of five major federal health reform bills. Comparisons cover general characteristics, vision services, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, durable medical equipment, long-term care, consumer information in accessible formats, and other provisions of interest. (DB)

Project InSights trained elderly volunteers to conduct peer education programs on vision health. A majority of 55 volunteers felt they provided an important service and made a useful contribution. A majority of 560 participants in the vision education learned something new and about half intended behavior changes related to vision. (Contains 19…

Thirty-one outreach coordinators of graded specialized schools for students with visual impairments completed questionnaires concerning the range of outreach services provided by their schools. These services included early intervention, preschool programs, school-age programs, academic-year programs, and innovative teacher training programs.…

The enormously complex and sometimes controversial project to unify the traditional literary Braille code used in English-speaking countries with the technical and mathematical codes authorized by the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) and the Braille Authority of the United Kingdom (BAUK) proposes to change English Grade Two Braille on a…

Over the past two decades, professionals in the fields of education and rehabilitation of people with disabilities have adopted person-first language, that is, language that subordinates the disability to the individual. This shift in language reflects the importance society places on sensitive issues and on changing stereotypes and reducing bias…

Retinitis pigmentosa is a rod-cone dystrophy, commonly genetic in nature. Approximately 60-80% of those with retinitis pigmentosa inherit it by an autosomal recessive transmission (Brilliant, 1999). There have been some reported cases with no known family history. The symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa are decreased acuity, photophobia, night…

Adults with low vision who seek clinical low vision services need to be able to read (that is, to interpret or understand words, numbers, and symbols in print meaningfully). Reading difficulties that adults encounter during low vision therapy may be directly connected to a visual impairment or may be related to other reading problems, such as…

The HIV epidemic is the most serious threat to health internationally, with developing countries accounting for over 95% of new infections. Since HIV/AIDS was first identified, 20 million people have died of AIDS (Lamptey, Wigley, Carr, & Collymore, 2002). Worldwide, there will be 45 million new HIV infections by 2010 (Goliber, 2002). Social…

This paper presents the Final Report on the Audio-Digital MCAS Pilot Program. The Department and Recording For the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) have collaborated to provide audio-digital read-aloud editions of the Grade 10 English Language Arts and Mathematics MCAS tests for a small number of students with disabilities such as dyslexia and/or…

Twenty-seven blind college students were interviewed on notetaking and studying techniques and were asked to participate in a study of voice indexing, which facilitates access to segments of audio tape. A programed text in recorded form on voice indexing was then pretested by 12 blind participants and revised, based upon findings. The text…