Providing Access to the Visual Environment (Project PAVE) is a statewide multidisciplinary project that provides low vision services to children ages 3-21 in Tennessee. This article describes the project's administrative, direct service, and research components and the philosophy on which it is based. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

The development of visual perception skills in children with partial vision as well as developmental disabilities is considered. A model of visual learning is offered which incorporates the role of visual experience, movement, and visual learning. Specific teaching suggestions for developing visual attention and visual search skills are offered.…

Analysis of scores of 118 visually impaired children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence (Revised) found a consistent response pattern suggesting that the verbal as well as the performance tests provide useful assessment information. (Author/DB)

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…

The booklet describes seven Wisconsin outreach programs for visually impaired persons. Offered by the Educational Services Center for the Visually Impaired, the seven programs focus on the following topics (sample subtopics in parentheses): (1) comprehensive child evaluations (helping local school districts provide individualized educational…

Four conference papers discuss past research and suggest future research on severe vision impairment and blindness in the elderly. Aspects considered include statistical and psychological implications, service needs, and the social and cultural context of aging in American society. Each paper is followed by a discussion. A final discussion and a…

A random sample of registered blind people in England and Wales (5% of those aged 16 to 65 and 1.7% of those aged 65 to 79) was interviewed in 1965 regarding mobility, orientation, and reading. Data included age, age when blindness occurred, sex, residual sight for mobility, residual sight for reading, other disabilities, and ability to walk…

To develop and test materials to be used in a later 2-year study to compare six approaches in teaching braille reading, materials in grade 1 and grade 2, braille, and phonemic braille media (both analytic and synthetic approaches), 39 subjects from six residential schools were evaluated. Special books were embossed in grade 1 and phonemic braille,…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a monograph providing a comprehensive clinical, educational, and psychological study of children in special schools for the blind and poorly sighted. It summarizes investigations aimed at planning ways of differentiating teaching procedures for children with severe visual…

The reading process and the history of teaching reading to Braille, print, and aural readers are reviewed. Variables in effective reading instruction programs for visually impaired children include teaching methods, assessment methods, qualities and competencies of teachers, other deficits of visually impaired students that exacerbate reading…

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)

This study examined the personal networks and social supports of 316 blind and visually impaired youth, ages 14-23, in the Netherlands. The average participant had a personal network of 15 people (compared to 15-20 for sighted adolescents.) The oldest adolescents had the largest networks and blind adolescents had the smallest. For all adolescents,…

This study of the transition experiences of 102 college students with visual impairments (blindness or low vision), and of the services offered for students with disabilities at 66 colleges, found that the colleges provided most of the services students need to be successful. Students also identified areas in which visually impaired high school…

Through seriation, verbal seriation, and conservation tasks, investigated blind, partially sighted, and sighted children's understanding of quantity. Subjects were 81 children equally dispersed through these 3 groups. Age range was 4 to 17 years. Found similarity in concept acquisition among three groups that extended beyond quantity conservation…

Discusses variables in the systematic decision-making process for selecting appropriate reading media for students with visual impairments. The article describes a two-phase process for selecting print or braille media. It examines an objective procedure for determining the relative effectiveness of print media, illustrating the procedure with…