The hypothesis that letters can be matched on the basis of tactual physical features was tested in three experiments with blind Braille-reading children. (Editor)

Twenty-six expert adult readers, 13 of whom were blind, were compared for how they perceived and retrieved written information. The study found that braille readers were not limited to the isolated identification of individual braille characters as previously thought, but could integrate greater quantities of written information. Implications for…

Analysis of completed surveys from 230 teachers of blind and visually impaired learners found that preservice training programs emphasizing the methodology of teaching Braille and the development of tactual perception tended to produce teachers who have positive attitudes toward Braille and feel competent in teaching Braille to children. (DB)

A hypothesized hierarchy of tasks in the development of tactual discrimination (an essential skill for reading) was tested in 60 blind primary level children. For five braille and five Optacon (optical to tactile converter) sequences, Ss were asked to identify the different stimulus from the four presented. Scalogram analysis was used to examine…

Provided in the second of two articles is further evidence of the validity of the author's sequence of tactual discrimination tasks for partial development of Optacon use readiness in young blind children. (IM)

This article describes the work of a group of professionals in the United Kingdom known as the VIEW Braille Literacy Committee, committed to the development of teaching braille. Members meet each school term and have had the support of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) in realizing numerous projects aimed at improving access to…

A description of braille and a review of research on this topic are discussed. Summaries are presented of nine research studies which are also presented in full; conclusions and duplications of the research are considered. The nine reports cover the following topics: effects of word length, familiarity, and orthography, influence of numbers and…

The paper reports the results of preliminary tests of the speechreading ability of a deaf blind adult who uses the Tadoma Method (speechreading based solely on vibrotactile information) for language acquisition and information. (Author/PHR)

Speech recognition technology helps people with disabilities interact with computers more easily. People with motor limitations, who cannot use a standard keyboard and mouse, can use their voices to navigate the computer and create documents. The technology is also useful to people with learning disabilities who experience difficulty with spelling…

The bibliography was compiled with the intent to cover areas of special interest with regard to a research program at the Teachers College of Uppsala, Sweden dealing with problems in connection with the special information media for the blind which serve as substitutes for ink-print. Entered in the first section - an introduction to blindness -…

Reports results of the administration of a battery of tests of oral language skills to blind braille readers (N=15). Three skills were tested: phoneme deletion, sentence completion, and morphological analysis. Participants were congenitally blind high school students. Subjects differed from sighted readers only in the ability to perform…

The author describes several teaching aids and techniques to help blind and partially sighted students understand electronics, specifically devices (with availability) he has found effective in preparing a blind student for a ham radio license: an audital multimeter, raised line drawings, Opticon, braille texts, and Speech Pulse Calculator. (MF)

Illustrated instructions are provided for constructing 32 teaching aids. To be used with blind and visually limited children, the aids are designed to assist the child in exploration, discrimination, and recognition; spatial orientation and association of tactual symbology; likenesses and differences in tactual group symbols; word association and…

Visualized braille was presented on closed circuit television (CCTV) to six blind tactile braille reading subjects (ages 12-50). Results supported cross-modal transfer of learning from tactile to visual modality. After intensive visual training, these subjects could discriminate visual forms and read ordinary print using the CCTV. (Author/BS)

THESE PAPERS ARE FROM THE BRAILLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY THE SENSORY AIDS EVALUATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER ON NOVEMBER 18, 1966. THE PAPERS PRESENTED ARE--"A STUDY OF BRAILLE PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE," BY LOUIS GOLDISH, "AUTOMATED BRAILLE AND THE PROFESSION OF PROGRAMMING FOR THE BLIND," BY…