This resource paper is intended for students who are blind or visually impaired, and who wish to pursue education or vocational training beyond high school. Family members, Disability Support Services (DSS) providers, administrators, faculty, and staff will also benefit from the discussion. The paper examines the characteristics of blindness and…

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, administers a free national library program of Braille and recorded materials for eligible individuals residing in the United States or for citizens living abroad. Under a special provision of the U.S. copyright law and with the permission of authors…

A description of 14 communication systems used by the deaf blind is provided. (PHR)

A study of 30 adolescent Braille readers at the Tennessee School for the Blind found the most important factor related to Braille reading speed was age at onset of blindness. No direct relationships were found between reading speed and comprehension or reading speed and reading for pleasure in Braille. (Author/CR)

A 3-year study involving 15 teachers and 15 students with visual impairments (grades K-4) evaluated the impact of the Mountbatten Brailler when used in a literacy instruction project. Teachers reported students were more motivated to write when they used the Mountbatten Brailler than when using the Perkins Brailler. (Contains 3 references.) (CR)

Described are methods of teaching braille to adolescents recently become blind, emphasizing the uniqueness of the individual, characteristics of the individual based on the cause of the blindness, possible resistance to learning braille while some vision remains, selection of appropriate training materials, and techniques for building up speed in…

Eleven basic types of visually displayed information that can be, and should be, rendered accessible to the visually impaired user are discussed. Speech, braille, and tactile technology are addressed as well as the innovative technique of "haptic-tactic" display combining a raised dynamic image of the screen's page with speech. (Author/DB)

This article offers teaching strategies for developing number sense for children who are blind and braille users. Suggestions focus on developing number meanings, exploring number relationships with manipulatives, understanding the relative magnitude of numbers, developing intuitions about the relative effect of operating on numbers, and…

Focuses on the accomplishments of Iris Schaedler, a blind coed from Liechtenstein who became exposed to the European cultural melting pot at the age of six. After receiving her bachelor's degree, she earned a diploma from a business school near Zurich, the first blind person from her country to receive such a degree. (CK)

This study of 270 legally blind adults found that those who had attended specialized schools for blind persons made significantly less money than those who had attended public schools. However, 72% of specialized school attendees could read braille, compared to 19.7% of public-school attendees. (DB)

During the past 50 years, teachers have used contracted braille as the preferred method of teaching reading to children and adults. Contracted braille, previously referred to as grade 2 braille, involves the use of the traditional alphabet, along with 189 different characters and contractions that represent a group of letters or whole words.…

An assessment is presented of the current situation of text reading comprehension research with Spanish-speaking blind persons. An overall view is offered on the operativity and evaluation of text reading comprehension processes, presented in a number of different media, such as braille, recordings and speech synthesis. A programme of future…

This study compared the test scores and time required by high school students who are blind, sighted, or have low vision to complete tests administered in written and oral formats. The quantitative results showed that the blind students performed better on multiple-choice tests in braille and needed more time while taking tests in braille. The…