The 17 papers in this booklet were presented at meetings of 7 sections within the Division of Serving the General Public: (1) "Overcoming Illiteracy and Public Library Social Functions Development" (Slava Matlina, USSR); (2) "Impact of Economic and Political Change upon Public Library Services" (E. S. Ponomaryova, USSR); (3)…

The Educational Center for Disabled Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is designed to improve the academic performance and attitudes toward success of disabled students through computer technology and academic skills training. Adaptive equipment interventions take into account keyboard access and screen and voice output. Non-adaptive…

This literature review examines and integrates research addressing visual handicap and giftedness and provides suggestions for the identification and education of gifted students with visual handicaps. The review addresses definitions of visual handicap and giftedness, characteristics of the gifted visually handicapped child, the problem of…

This paper discusses how presentation software can be used to design custom materials for a variety of people with special needs, including children and adults with low vision, people with developmental disabilities, and stroke patients with cognitive impairments. Benefits of using presentation software include: (1) presentation software gives the…

A consortium of universities in Utah developed a teacher training program in sensory impairments to address a long-term critical shortage of teachers qualified to service hearing-impaired/deaf and visually-impaired/blind students. The teacher shortage was a direct result of program cuts at the University of Utah. An advisory board was selected to…

The paper examines applications and research on the use of bar code technology to aid mentally retarded, physically handicapped, visually impaired, and other handicapped persons in independently gaining information from a variety of sources. Bar code reader technology is compared to alternative information systems such as Braille, pictorial…

Papers on library services and developments in reading materials for the blind and disabled presented at the 1984 IFLA general conference include: (1) "The Establishment of a Library Service to Visually Handicapped People in African Developing Countries" (Paulli Thomsen, Denmark); (2) "Sources of Assistance for Establishing Braille…

This paper describes the learning center approach of the preschool and kindergarten programs at the Maryland School for the Blind. Units are presented in monthly themes suggested by the local school curriculum, and this thematic approach is incorporated into the specific learning centers. The classroom is divided into six main learning areas: (1)…

This paper describes the design and development of TruVision, an online learning environment designed to enable blind and vision impaired students to develop skills and expertise in elementary and advanced information processing strategies to enable them to seek full-time employment within industry in such positions as administrative assistants,…

This conference paper describes demographics of the Native American population, their disability rate, and their utilization of rehabilitation services. Findings indicate that: (1) in 1980, almost half of the American Indian population was under 20 years of age and that the birthrate among American Indians was twice that of other groups; (2) in…

The study identified elementary level non-academic employment competencies needed by students with visual impairments. The first phase of the study validated and prioritized 32 competencies needed for successful employment of adults with visual impairments. Competencies were rated by 141 professionals including coordinators of services for…

Focusing on the exceptional child, this symposium contains a study which reports findings concerning the adjustment problems of the Malaysian visually handicapped student, by Chua Tee Tee, an abstract on adjustment and personality patterns in normal and problem children by Gurvinder Kaur Khaneja and Gopa Bharawaj, and an abstract of a study on…

The paper examines ways in which computers have radically altered and improved the lives of handicapped students. The visually impaired have been helped through the use of computerized braillers, embossers, and readers. Both adaptations of off-the-shelf software and specialized software have provided the visually impaired with magnification of…

To assist in implementing the requirements of Public Law 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Ammendments, 1986, practical information is provided about 15 appropriate assessment instruments for use with visually handicapped children, ages birth through 5. Descriptive analyses of selected assessment instruments include the title, author(s),…

A revised form of the Scale of Children's Attitudes Toward Handicaps (SCATE), which provides a breakdown of attitudes toward specific disabilities, was administered to 332 children in grades 2 through 6. The SCATE was shown to be reliable. The ranking of most positive attitudes to least was: nonhandicapped, learning disabled, hearing impaired,…