A survey of employment practices of state rehabilitation agencies found that most agencies employed both rehabilitation teachers and rehabilitation counselors for adults with visual impairments, offered teachers and counselors the same starting salaries, but required caseloads for counselors that were typically 60% higher than for teachers. Fewer…

A study compared positive and negative adaptation strategies used by people with low vision (25 working-age and 23 elderly people) who had participated in a rehabilitation program with 335 persons with neurological disabilities and 112 controls. Results indicate that the participants used a variety of positive and negative adaptation strategies.…

A study of 211 children and adults with autism (n=81), other pervasive development disorders (PDD) (n=24), and conditions other than PDD (n=106) found the prevalence of medical conditions with suspected etiologic relationships with autism varies between 10 and 15%, depending on the diagnostic system employed. (Author/CR)

A case study of a young Dutch man with intellectual and visual disabilities proved the viability and effectiveness of a self-operated instruction system with verbal cues in achieving independent task performance. The system consisted of a largely modified cassette recording which would stop automatically after each instruction. (Author/CR)

This annotated bibliography of materials focuses on horses, racing, ranching, and riding. Two articles are presented in full. They are: "Diary of a Blind Horseman: Confidence Springs from a Horse Named Sun" (Richard Vice and Steve Stone) and "Young Rider: Her Horses Show the Way" (Helen Mason). Each article tells the true story…

PHILOSOPHY, GOALS, AND DESCRIPTION OF RESIDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROGRAM ARE PRESENTED. ACTIVITIES ARE OUTLINED FOR BEGINNERS, INTERMEDIATES, ADULT MEN, AND ADULT WOMEN IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS--(1) PERCEPTION DEVELOPMENT, (2) COMMUNICATION AND EXPRESSION SKILLS, (3) MOTOR SKILLS, (4) NUMBER CONCEPTS, (5) PERSONAL HEALTH AND GROOMING SKILLS,…

A study investigated similarities and differences in the views of experienced vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors serving African Americans who are blind or visually impaired. A total of 26 counselors, 11 of whom were African American, reported their views in structured telephone interviews. In general, there were more similarities than…

This study explored the self-reported functional capacity and psychosocial adjustment of 40 persons before and after completing a comprehensive residential rehabilitation program for military veterans with visual impairments. There was considerable correlation between self-reported improvements and improvements noted in clinical assessments in the…

Users (n=148) of an audio book library were surveyed to collect data for formulating a policy on development of the library's collection. The survey found a broad range of reading interests among users and differences in preferred genres of fiction between men and women. Policy changes made based on survey results are discussed. (Author/PB)

To investigate whether screen color is an important variable in the prescription of closed circuit television (CCTV) systems, 16 adults with low vision were assessed on reading performance on white, green, and amber screens. When the screen luminance and contrast were equated for each CCTV, subjects' reading performance was unaffected by screen…

In a long-term study of 14 adults with visual impairments, 11 of whom had diabetes, the concept of "the short life" emerged as a prevalent theme important for understanding the changing priorities, adaptive strategies, and general life planning of the participants, many of whose lives were marked by gradually deteriorating health and…

A survey of orientation and mobility specialists (N=26) was conducted to determine the mobility devices currently being used with visually impaired and elderly clients. These results were then used to design and develop an effective, commercially manufacturable adaptive-mobility device prototype which was tested with elderly individuals, multiply…

A study investigated the impact of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 on the provision of wayfinding aids in local authority buildings in Scotland. Results indicate that although the DDA has raised awareness, it has not necessarily led to the incorporation of wayfinding aids in new or refurbished buildings. (Contains references.)…

In-depth interviews with 20 people with monocular vision identified a number of themes associated with the impairment, including psychological, psychosocial, physical, vocational, and daily living problems. They also revealed that in many cases, these problems had profound implications for people's adjustment to daily living. The implications of…

This report discusses the results of a national study of 89 rehabilitation counselors that investigated the methods by which an individual could retain competitive employment after the onset of a significant vision loss. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe strategies that contribute to successful job retention and identify best…