The National Deaf-Blind Child Count is conducted each year to supplement OSEP's Federal Part C and Part B child counts, which include children as deaf-blind only when deaf-blindness is their single disability. In contrast, the National Deaf-Blind Child Count includes children whose disability is solely deaf-blindness, as well as those who have…

Several studies reported a higher prevalence of maladaptive behaviors in children and adolescents with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) compared with typically developing youths. Early studies reported that up to 57% of youths with visual impairments also have mental health problems. These include problems with…

Apert syndrome is a rare condition, with a birth prevalence of approximately one in 65,000. This article provides an up-to-date review of the literature on Apert syndrome from a variety of perspectives, ranging from surgical management to personal accounts. The purpose of the review is to provide a holistic description of the syndrome which should…

Working with children who have multiple disabilities that include visual impairments can be especially challenging. Many disabling conditions manifest into behavioral difficulties that may take away from learning. Acting out may be a student's way of expressing a lack of healthy coping mechanisms in relation to his or her environment. Implementing…

Loss of vision is believed to have a great impact on the acquisition of spatial knowledge. The aims of the present study are to examine the performance of individuals with visual impairments on spatial tasks and the impact of residual vision on processing these tasks. In all, 28 individuals with visual impairments--blindness or low…

The present study explored the total adaptive behavior of children and adolescents with visual impairments, as well as their adaptive behavior in each of the domains of Communication, Daily Living Skills, and Socialization. Moreover, the predictors of the performance and developmental delay in adaptive behavior were investigated. Instrumentation…

An examination is made of the value of using published personality tests with young blind and partially sighted children. Based on data gathered during a longitudinal investigation into the educational and psychological development of a group of 120 visually impaired learners, the authors conclude that their own selection of a test instrument…

Despite the need for braille literacy, there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate braille-instruction programs. The current study evaluated an instructive procedure for teaching early braille-reading skills with 4 school-aged children with degenerative visual impairments. Following a series of pretests, braille instruction involved…

Research on the development of literacy in children with visual impairments and additional disabilities is minimal even though these children make up approximately 65% of the population of children with visual impairments. This article reports on emerging themes that were explored after a review of the literature revealed nine literacy studies…

A proportion of children with visual impairments have specific reading difficulties that cannot be easily explained. This article reviews the data on problems with braille reading and interprets them from the framework of the temporal-processing deficit theory of developmental dyslexia.

Aim: The study investigated the relationships between handwriting, visuomotor integration, and neurological condition. We paid particular attention to the presence of minor neurological dysfunction (MND). Method : Participants were 200 children (131 males, 69 females; age range 8-13y) of whom 118 received mainstream education (mean age 10y 5mo, SD…

Aim: The aim of this study was to study systematically social, communication, and repetitive/restrictive (SCRR) behavioural difficulties and clinical autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) and/or septo-optic dysplasia (SOD), and to investigate the relationship between visual impairment, SCRR difficulties, ASD,…

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) in children with visual impairments (VI). Seventy-five children aged between 6 and 12 years with VI completed the TGMD-2 and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC). The internal consistency of the TGMD-2 was found to be high…

Does the severity of visual impairment affect the prevalence and severity of stereotyped movements? In this study, children who were blind or had low vision, half of whom had intellectual disabilities, were assessed. The results revealed that blindness and global delays were associated with more sensory processing dysfunction and more stereotyped…

This article reviews studies on variables that are related to the motor skill performance of children and adolescents with visual impairments (VI). Three major groups of variables are considered (child, environmental, and task). Thirty-nine studies are included in this review, 26 of which examined the effects of child, environmental, and/or task…