The Department issued this Notice of Policy Guidance (notice) to address the requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, as they apply to the education of blind and visually impaired students. This notice updates the Office of…

Scanners linked to computers with speech synthesizers are used by the visually impaired. A study of 13 sighted children needing additional help in reading determined that such systems provide benefit for children with "global" reading delay, are more effective improving reading than spelling, and are of little value for children with…

The development and teaching of Web-based courses places new demands on university faculty and students. Development structures, online pedagogical practices, and issues of evaluation are presented by two faculty with online experience in the areas of visual impairment and orientation and mobility. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Background: This study was designed to assess whether children with a sensory disability have consistent delays in acquiring emotion recognition and emotion understanding abilities. Method: Younger (6-11 years) and older (12-18 years) hearing-impaired children (HI; n = 49), vision-impaired children (VI; n = 42), and children with no sensory…

A quasi-experimental design using student cases and non-random survey methods was used to investigate the influences of student educational labels, behaviors and learning characteristics as perceived by secondary career and technical education (CTE) instructors on occupational program expectations, modifications and accommodations, and…

Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB), a specialized school serving students with blindness and visual impairment, has provided, since the early 1990s, paid summer work experiences as part of the school's Work Experience Program. In this article, the authors discuss how OSB has strengthened its original program as a result of the Workforce…

Two suburban school districts in Indiana were designated as inclusion pilot sites by the state legislature during the 1992-93 school year. Twenty-one students with moderate or severe disabilities and sensory impairments were integrated into their neighborhood schools. Observations of parents and general education teachers of these students were…

This final report describes the design, development, and testing of the Multiple Output Sensory Trainer (MOST), a computer-based system which enables the evaluation of students with visual impairments to determine the optimal combination of sensory adaptive aids to meet their needs. The system uses multimedia devices in conjunction with customized…

This annotated bibliography covers materials about children at risk because of disabilities and/or abilities. The bibliography includes approximately 560 entries. The following categories are addressed: autism; gifted; handicapped--general and multiple; hearing impaired/deaf; learning disabilities; mental illness; mentally handicapped/brain…

This document is composed of 10 manuals which provide both general and specific guidelines to facilitate the inclusion of Canadian students with disabilities in physical education programs. An introductory manual identifies general concepts, strategies, and practical approaches that can be used in an inclusive physical education program. It…

This study compared characteristics of adults with visual impairments who were either successful or unsuccessful in retaining jobs in competitive employment settings. Data were obtained from a database of vocational rehabilitation (VR) client cases collected from 1978 to 1986. The final sample included three groups: (1) a noncompetitive group of…

This manual assists in developing educational goals and Individual Education Plans for children with visual impairments, by providing guidelines for selecting appropriate learning media for optimum literacy development. Part 1 describes the target populations, the members of the interdisciplinary team, and the team members' responsibilities. Part…

This paper describes the principles followed by the Educational Testing Service (New Jersey) in adapting, for students with various disabilities, the Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT I), the commonly used test for college admissions that assesses verbal and mathematical reasoning. The paper notes that developers of standard tests should be…

This report discusses the community-based resources that may be available to regular and special education teachers serving visually impaired students in rural areas. It notes the national shortage of teachers qualified to teach children with visual impairments and suggests that rural teachers will have to devote some effort to seeking out…

This paper describes the first year of a 5-year study which, when completed, will identify the needs and concerns of disabled consumers from virtually all categories of functional limitations and all walks of life. The participants will include men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 from a variety of socioeconomic and geographical…