The University of Northern Colorado developed a master's degree program to train specialists in the education of students with visual disabilities in the 14-state region of the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. The program is student-centered, stresses effective interaction between faculty and students and among students, and uses…

This text, one of two volumes on the instruction of students with visual impairments, focuses on the history and theory of teaching such students. The following chapters are included: (1) "Historical Perspectives" (Phil Hatlen) with emphasis on the last 50 years; (2) "Visual Impairment" (Kathleen M. Huebner) which provides general information…

A study explored the types of services that 40 schools for students with visual impairments provided to students in local education agencies, the extent of collaboration, and perceived changes to improve the process. Most schools continue to serve a dual role as residential/day schools and as outreach service providers. (Contains 8 references.)…

A mother of an adolescent daughter with blindness and learning disabilities focuses on how she helped her daughter improve reading and writing skills by finding a meaningful purpose for those skills in daily life. This article discusses early signs of learning problems, the learning environment, talking books, books in braille, technology,…

A rehabilitation teacher at the Kansas State School for the Blind describes her job. Her main responsibilities are to teach a transition class to older high school students and to be at the local community college to assist students to be successful in that setting. Students are taught cooking, cleaning skills, and skills for independent apartment…

Examines literature for guiding libraries to develop services that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Presents a case of the University of Alabama Libraries' establishment of a technologies lab to serve the needs of the blind, visually impaired, and learning disabled students; examines problems and efforts to increase staff…

This article describes differences between the graphical user interface and traditional character-based interface systems, identifies potential problems posed by graphic computing environments for blind computer users, and describes some programs and strategies that are being developed to provide access to those environments. (Author/JDD)

This study explores children's understanding of the causal origins of disabilities. Using a forced-choice explanation task, children's understanding of social-psychological, physical, and biological causal explanations of disabilities was considered. We presented 79 children (26 4- to 5-year-olds, 26 6- to 7-year-olds, and 27 10- to 11-year-olds)…

To address calls for restructuring and reform in the mid 1980's, educators proposed joining schools and universities in collaborative partnerships to improve education. Little attention has been given in the educational reform literature, however, to the field of teacher education for teachers of students with blindness or low vision. Reform…

This final report presents an independent formative and summative evaluation of the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS/BPH) braille and audio magazine program. In this program, 77 magazines are distributed directly to subscribers, with 43 magazines available on audio flexible discs and 34 magazines available in…

A free national library service providing recorded and braille materials is administrated by the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the Library of Congress. With the cooperation of authors and publishers who grant permission to use copyrighted books, NLS selects and produces full-length books and magazines…

A free national library service providing recorded and braille materials is administrated by the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the Library of Congress. With the cooperation of authors and publishers who grant permission to use copyrighted books, NLS selects and produces full-length books and magazines…

This curriculum was designed to train approximately 250 community health representatives (CHRs), to teach visually impaired and blind Indian elders and their families necessary independent living skills. The curriculum aims to sensitize CHRs to the impact of visual impairment upon elderly persons and their families, and to provide basic…

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, administers a free library program for those unable to read standard printed materials, reproducing and distributing works in braille, recorded disc, and recorded cassette. Previous studies of the distribution network had identified costs and…

A free national library service providing recorded and braille materials is administered by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the Library of Congress (NLS). With the cooperation of authors and publishers who grant permission to use copyrighted books, NLS selects and produces full-length books and magazines in…