A program director at an Ontario school for the blind discusses the phenomenon of giftedness in blind students. A section on identification addresses factors involved in IQ measurement, language, creative and productive thinking, high capacity for seeing diverse relationships, goal oriented behavior, sensitivity to expectations and feelings of…

Written from the perspective of a blind rehabilitation teacher, the paper focuses on teaching daily living skills to visually impaired persons. Of primary importance is early instruction in daily living skills integrated into the child's total life experience. The parent's role as a direct and consistent influence on the way children perceive the…

The study involving three blind elementary school, six blind high school, and four blind college students was designed to establish oral reading rates and oral reading error rates for Ss reading conventional braille volumes and brailled materials with the Digi-cassette, an electronic braille reading and writing machine. Data suggested several…

Three hundred seventy-two college students completed person description questionnaires in an examination of social stereotyping of the physically handicapped. Ss rated a person identified by either age and sex (minimal description condition); age, sex, and as a person the S would like (liking condition); or age, sex, and either blind, deaf, or…

This paper examines the role of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as it relates to copyright and to visually impaired people's right to read. The paper starts by summarizing the barriers that can arise both from refusal to grant permission for alternative formats and from the use of rights management schemes incompatible with…

At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a diversified program for training graduate level students in visual impairments involves state agencies in the training. Based on needs assessment data, the program was established using community resources as training sites and specialists as course instructors. Facilities participating include the…

The paper reviews the effects of absence of vision on perceptual functioning and considers ways in which a modified Optacon (which translates images into tactile presentations) can help visually impaired persons acquire critical cognitive and perceptual knowledge. Background research with the Tactile Vision Substitution System, a system for…

The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were administered to 134 emotionally disturbed children (9-15 years old), 323 hearing impaired children (6-13 years old), and 185 visually handicapped children (6-13 years old). Respondents were residential program staff familiar with the children's daily activities. Scores were computed for six domains:…

The paper addresses the secondary learning problems that accompany various types of cerebral palsy. Three major types of cerebral palsy are reviewed: spastic, athetoid, and ataxic. Among associated disabilities noted are disorders with the primitive reflexes (such as the moro and asymmetric tonic neck reflexes). Sensory impairments associated with…

Described are the development and field testing of programed instruction in orientation and mobility for 41 multiply handicapped blind students. Based on initial assessment on the Peabody Mobility Scale, it is explained that the students were prescribed individualized tasks in the areas of motor development, sensory skills, concept development and…

In 1998, a state university received grant funding to convert their Special Education Blindness and Visual Impairment graduate degree program to an online format. At that time, commercial web course management systems were not accessible to blind and visually impaired users. As a result, grant designers developed a custom, accessible platform,…

The paper reviews the history of education for visually handicapped students in the twentieth century. Noted are the establishment of residential schools for the blind, gradual integration into public school classes, controversies over braille, the appearance of "talking books," and beginning efforts in orientation and mobility. (CL)

This document presents summary information in chart form on medications used by students with visual and hearing impairments. First, a checklist identifies educational considerations for students who are medicated. Next, common antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, antiasthmatic and other drugs are listed in chart form with drug name, indications, peak…

The study evaluated the validity, reliability, and effectiveness in providing needed information of the Montana Functional Vision Assessment (MFVA) Instrument by comparing it with the Texas Education Agency Functional Vision Assessment and field testing the instrument in evaluations of nine multihandicapped students (ages 3-11). Evaluation led to…

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 university students with visual, hearing, and motor impairments to determine their use and perception of campus library services. Ss, who majored in a wide range of disciplines, rated their use of library services. Most frequent use was reported by students with motor impairments, while 21% of…