The Tactile Diagrams Research Project at Loughborough University of Technology (England) developed 164 tactile diagrams for teaching 22 biological themes to blind students. Evaluation of the diagrams found most to be effective when properly introduced to students, and used with supporting text or tapes. (CB)

Described is a project in which art education graduate students in Perth, Australia, built a story mural for blind children. Using an Australian adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz," they created a mural with textures and objects that illustrated the story carried in print and braille. (SJL)

Early childhood instruction and the experiences that accompany can serve life-long lessons. Depriving children of education during this critical period in life can have significant consequences on cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical development. This article features one of the forerunners to special education, Michael Anagnostopoulos…

This document updates "Accommodations: Assisting Students with Disabilities. A Guide for Educators," published by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) in 2003. This document is written to assist school district personnel and parents when making decisions about the use of accommodations by students with disabilities in instructional…

Low vision students can be helped to gain an understanding of map reading and geography by means of products developed by the American Printing House for the Blind. Among those products are a series of eight land form models with accompanying audiotapes, a series of continental color coded relief maps, and 18 audiotapes for the six continents. The…

This report describes Project MAVIS (Materials Adaptations for Visually Impaired Students in the Social Studies), a three year project of the Social Science Education Consortium in Boulder, Colorado. The purpose of the project was to adapt social studies curriculum materials for use by visually handicapped students in grades K-6 in both integrated…

A multiple-probe design demonstrated the effectiveness of a match to sample paradigm using tactile recipe cards, a positional tray, and systematic prompting in teaching a severely handicapped deaf-blind retarded woman the independent preparation of three breakfast foods. (Author/DB)

This handbook was developed for teachers who have a visually handicapped child in their regular classroom. Classroom activities designed to prepare students to receive a visually handicapped classmate are described. Recommendations are made on the use of special resources available to the teacher, and descriptions are given of successful…

This paper discusses the education of people with blindness in China and India prior to the establishment of formal schools for the blind. Key people who advanced the education of people with blindness are highlighted, such as missionary teacher Mary Gutzlaff, who integrated Chinese orphan girls with blindness into her school at Macau. One of the…

The goal of this project was to devise new methods of producing tactile facsimiles of microscopic images for the blind and visually impaired biology students at the secondary and college level. The numerous raised-line images that were produced were assembled along with brailled and large print student instructions, audio cassette tapes describing…

This article describes the work of a group of professionals in the United Kingdom known as the VIEW Braille Literacy Committee, committed to the development of teaching braille. Members meet each school term and have had the support of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in realizing numerous projects aimed at improving access to…

The report details the development and design of a mechanical hand for communicating with deaf blind persons. It is explained that the device, which looks and functions like the human hand, forms the symbols of the one-hand manual alphabet upon command from a standard electric typewriter keyboard. The report addresses the following topics (sample…

Speech recognition technology helps people with disabilities interact with computers more easily. People with motor limitations, who cannot use a standard keyboard and mouse, can use their voices to navigate the computer and create documents. The technology is also useful to people with learning disabilities who experience difficulty with spelling…

Asserts that legal mandates increase the probability that postsecondary instructors will have blind and visually impaired students in their classrooms. The graphical and symbolic notations used in economics courses present special problems for these students. Recommends and describes the usage of tactile graphs and raised line drawings. (MJP)

Recounts a college economics professor's attempts to explain macroeconomic concepts to a blind student. Considers how explanations of economics principles often rely on graphic presentations. Describes experimental tactile adaptation, using graphs made out of sandpaper, yarn, spaghetti, and other materials. Recommends developing prefabricated…