Describes specific plans for making environmental education accessible to disabled people by adapting trail systems and facilities for safety, interpretative programing, and access. Encourages the inclusion of disabled people in the wide variety of environmental education programing by presenting solutions to traditional barriers. (MCO)

The Carroll Center for the Blind operates the Ed-Tech Loan Program which enables Massachusetts schools to borrow adaptive computer devices for blind students. For $50 per month, with a three-month maximum, schools can borrow braille printers, large-print processors, talking software, or speech or braille laptop computers to evaluate before making…

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Division of Special Education (DSE), per Missouri Revised Statute 162.1136, conducts an annual study of the educational status of eligible blind/visually impaired students and reports the findings to the Missouri Legislature on December 1st each year. The information contained in…

This annotated bibliography contains books for blind or physically handicapped youngsters from preschool through junior high. The books are available in braille, on audiocassette, or recorded discs. The approximately 400 titles listed were produced in Florida or obtained from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.…

This annotated bibliography comprises an alphabetical listing of 72 books about digging available in special formats. The bibliography is divided into three sections: (1) "Dig-In" contains books about holes and caves; (2) "Dig-In--In the Garden and Down on the Farm" contains books about gardening and farming; and (3)…

There is a great need to explore approaches for developing computer-based testing systems that are more accessible for people with disabilities. This report explores three prototype test delivery approaches, describing their development and formative evaluations. Fifteen adults, 2 to 4 from each of the six disability statuses--blindness, low…

Midway through this century, Braille was placed within the reach of blind persons throughout the world when Unesco began the major task of adapting Braille to accommodate all languages and dialects. Invented in France between 1825 and 1829, Braille's role as the key to the cultural emancipation of the blind had previously been limited to countries…

The paper examines ways in which computers have radically altered and improved the lives of handicapped students. The visually impaired have been helped through the use of computerized braillers, embossers, and readers. Both adaptations of off-the-shelf software and specialized software have provided the visually impaired with magnification of…

This study evaluates user satisfaction and the cost effectiveness of the use of computer systems in the Braille and Talking Book Program of the Ohio Regional Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and makes recommendations for patterns of service and funding. This report provides an executive summary as well as a 3-part presentation…

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…

A survey based on the American Library Association's "Standards for Library Services for the Blind and Visually Handicapped" (1966) was sent to 65 four year universities in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Arizona. Libraries were asked how many blind patrons they had and what services and facilities were…

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)

This brief paper summarizes data from a survey of state education agencies (SEAs) on changes related to Braille instruction since the passage of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Major findings from analyses of the 44 responding agencies include the following: (1) 25 SEAs have counts of the number of…

Each person who is deaf-blind--whatever her sensory, mental, and physical abilities--deserves the opportunity to become literate in all the ways of which she is capable. Reading and writing are especially crucial for one whose world is narrowed because of vision and hearing losses. Literacy can enable such a person to exchange information and…

Describes the Braille/Large Print Reference Project developed in Illinois to provide visually impaired patrons with information transcribed into either Braille or large print. Topics discussed include equipment needs; staff training; user response; and problems. Examples of publicity and guidelines are included. (LRW)