The potential use of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist receptive communication is explored. The opportunities and challenges that this technology presents students and staff to provide captioning of speech online or in classrooms for deaf or hard of hearing students and assist blind, visually impaired or dyslexic learners to read and search…

Provides information on and evaluation of microcomputer equipment modifications for improving accessibility to the visually impaired. Equipment discussed includes input and visual output modification techniques and devices, software designed for visually impaired users, and braille output peripherals. Lists sources for available peripherals,…

This report is the result of a conference that examined major civil rights issues facing people who are blind and visually impaired in Illinois and is intended to inform the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concerning issues of equal protection. The introductory chapter reviews leading types and causes of blindness and visual impairment, incidence…

This article describes a collaborative process that parents, teachers, consumers, and advocacy groups in North Carolina used to successfully establish a permanently funded university training program specializing in visual impairments, the Visual Impairment Training Program. Within this process several factors were identified that contributed to…

This article reports on a 1988 survey of music programs in 49 residential schools for blind and visually impaired students. It presents information on teachers, materials, course offerings, accomplishments, goals, and administrative concerns. Recommendations include communication among music teachers, more involvement by music therapists, and…

Services provided to 12 young adults with visual impairments moving from school to work by either an educationally based or rehabilitation-based transition program were compared. No differences were found in types or number of services provided by the two programs. Both programs cooperated with other agencies and involved subjects and parents in…

Instructional materials on hypoglycemia, foot care, and exercise were developed and field tested with 98 diabetes patients who had low vision and/or low literacy. A pretest and posttest revealed an 81% reduction in wrong answers overall and a 72% reduction in wrong answers by a subset with low vision. (Author/DB)

This study examined the developmental attainments of children with visual impairments, aged 6-59 months, with and without emotional deficits, behavioral deficits, or both. It found that an emotional or behavioral deficit was significantly related to gross motor and visual motor integration, expressive and receptive language, and social or personal…

The relationship between poor health and cognitive impairment is not fully understood yet. People with Down syndrome are prone to a number of health problems, including congenital heart defect, visual impairment, hearing loss, autoimmune diseases, epilepsy, early-onset Alzheimer's disease and intellectual disability. Our aim was to assess the…

The report presents summaries of evaluations of the Coordinated Assessment and Program Planning for Education (CAPE) Program and the Coordinated Rehabilitation and Education (CORE) program for multi-handicapped sensory impaired and/or communication and behavior disordered children and their families in Alberta, Canada. Each program is evaluated…

A study conducted to determine user acceptability of cassette braille systems addressed three concerns: (1) user reaction to the basic concept of cassette braille, (2) the determination of the strong and weak features of the cassette braille machines currently available, and (3) the determination of those features of braille machines which would…

Seventeen visually impaired children, aged 7-11 years, were compared with sighted children on a test of facial recognition and a test of expression identification. The visually impaired children were less able to recognize faces successfully but showed no disadvantage in discerning facial expressions such as happiness, anger, surprise, or fear.…

Discusses the different types of learning disabilities (visual, auditory, motor, tactile, academic), types of accommodations needed for each disability, and hints for supervisors. These suggestions include practicing patience, being direct and specific, explaining inappropriate behavior, being understanding but firm, and being especially thorough…

One of the most difficult problems confronting the education of the deaf is defining what is meant by the term multihandicapped deaf. Multihandicapped deaf have been sorted into three groups--mild, moderate, and severe--which educators must use for the effective development of educational programs and services. (JN)

One approach that has proved to be effective in providing prevocational training to the deaf-blind and severely handicapped is the continuum concept. This concept emphasizes the individual's movement from the educational setting into an appropriate community-based vocational environment. (JN)