bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aligning to disadvantage: How corporate political activity and strategic homophily create path dependence in the firm
Authors: Perchard Andrew , MacKenzie Niall G
Published: March 2020

To what extent should firms get close to government for competitive advantage? What happens if they get too close? In this article we explore how corporate political activity inculcated strategic homophily in leading UK aluminium producer, the British Aluminium Company Ltd, resulting in its path dependence and eventual lock-in. The article makes three main contributions: a longitudinal study of corporate political activity and strategic homophily revealing their organizational manifestations and detailed understanding of certain mechanisms of path dependence; articulating the value of historical methods and perspectives to exploring organizational path dependence; and exploring the impact that prolonged business-government relations can have on the organizational behaviour and strategic outlook of the firm with implications for TMT selection and environmental scanning. In so doing it responds to calls for firms to align market positions with political activity, as well as those for the recognition of the value of business history in better understanding the links between corporate political activity and firm performance. It further elucidates the longer-term consequences of strategic homophily, which has to date focused on the early stages of venture formation.
‘Had a lovely week at #conference2018 ’: An Analysis of Interaction through Conference Tweets
Authors: Luzón María José , Albero-Posac Sofía
Published: March 2020

Twitter has become a common feature of academic conferences, used by organizers to provide information about the conference and by attendees to engage in discussion about the conference topics, share information, and create social links and networks within the community. This study examines the tweets from two conferences in Applied Linguistics in order to analyse the networked language practices of scholars using Twitter during conferences. More specifically, in this study we address the following questions: (i) what are the purposes for which scholars in this disciplinary community use Twitter during conferences? (ii) how are different semiotic resources (e.g. linguistic forms, pictures, videos, embedded slides) combined to orchestrate meaning and achieve these various rhetorical purposes? We also look at how Twitter features (hashtags, replies, retweets, mentions) contribute to these rhetorical purposes. The analysis reveals that tweets are mostly intended to create and maintain cohesive links or to encourage peers to perform specific actions. In order to achieve these functions scholars compose their tweets by using a variety of (linguistic and non-linguistic) expressions of stance and engagement (Hyland, 2005). We suggest that, given the increasingly important role of social media for scholarly communication, a central concern of EAP courses should be to help students develop the competence of composing multimodal texts. Scholars need to understand the ways in which the multiple semiotic resources available to them in social media can be used effectively to engage other members of the community in these new digital contexts.
Goals, Rhetoric, and (In)Equity: The Rationales Behind Decentralizing a Large, Diverse School District
Authors: Diem Sarah , Sampson Carrie
Published: March 2020

School district decentralization typically shifts authority and resources from central office administrators at the district level to leaders at the school level. Although decentralization reforms have been prevalent in urban educational contexts for decades, they often yield poor results for low-income, minoritized communities. In this article, we examine stakeholder rationales behind decentralizing a large, diverse countywide district and the extent to which equity was part of these rationales. The findings suggest that although stakeholders aim to improve student achievement, financial and administrative efficiency, and family/community engagement through decentralization, many failed to consider how school-level disparities might result in sustaining or worsening inequities.
A Matter of Life and Death: Teaching Undergraduates About the End of Life
Authors: Lemaster Philip , Moyer Emily
Published: March 2020

As the population ages, the number of careers that intersect with aging is expected to grow. However, many young people lack an interest in working with aging populations. As previous work has shown, though, students’ interest in aging careers may be stimulated by coursework and experiential activities related to aging. Despite being a normative developmental process, anxiety about death and dying may be particular barriers to students developing interest in aging, and these topics may be particularly difficult subjects to teach in the college classroom. Here, strategies and activities for teaching the end of life are offered.
Tin Cups and Free Rides
Authors: Carroll Thomas J.
Published: March 2020

We are pleased to have permission to reprint the following discussion which appeared as an editorial in Listen, the publication of the Catholic Guild for the Blind in Boston, Mass.

Father Thomas J. Carroll, editor of Listen, discusses a local situation in the editorial, but the principles he enunciates are applicable anywhere.—Editor.
Development of the Anne Sullivan Macy Service for Deaf-Blind Persons
Authors: Rusalem Herbert
Published: March 2020

The Industrial Home for the Blind, in cooperation with the United States Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, has launched a demonstration and research project providing for the development of a regional rehabilitation service for deaf-blind persons. This project, encompassing some fifteen states from Maine to North Carolina, will offer a full range of rehabilitation services, incorporated insofar as possible, into the general agency program. Among the features of the service will be special efforts to: 1) organize the region, 2) organize the local community, 3) train state and local agency personnel, 4) reduce the isolation of deaf-blind persons, 5) employ a total team approach, and 6) educate local communities to the needs and potentialities of deaf-blind persons. From time to time, reports will be issued concerning progress made in the project and reflecting the results of research carried on in association with it.
Job Talk
Authors: Collingwood Huesten
Published: March 2020

In its first three years of operation, approximately one fourth of the specialized agencies for the blind, and a number of community school systems throughout the United States listed vacancies with PRS. It is known that at least 15 per cent of the vacancies listed were filled as a result of referrals made by PRS, including six executive director positions.

Eight hundred and twenty-nine individuals registered with PRS in this time. Registrations were stimulated by regular advertising in various professional publications and by other sources. About one-third of the persons who registered on the practitioner-supervisory level were blind, including a number of teachers for whom there is little demand according to the job orders placed with PRS.

Employers have been generally reluctant or unable to offer salaries which would be likely to induce high quality persons with good experience to come into the field of blindness.

The Advisory Committee of PRS placed high priority on the educational role of PRS in generally improving personnel standards, practices and salary levels.* It is planned that greater attention will be given to these broad areas of professional manpower needs.
An Appraisal of Partial Vision: Its Dual Nature and Problems
Authors: Zimmerman A. Alfred
Published: March 2020

It should be borne in mind that visual efficiency cannot be measured or compared in terms of percentages or fractions. It must be measured by actual performance of tasks which are educationally, vocationally, and socially performed or learned, using the upper limits of normal vision. These upper limits of normal vision occur during a small part of the time, and during the rest, little or no fine vision is required. While using fine or higher vision, speed, accuracy, and endurance are probably the ultimate determiners as to whether visual deficiency occurs or does not occur. The partially sighted individual must be conscious of his limitations as well as of the advantages of his limited vision in order to most satisfactorily utilize the tools at his command and determine his own status. As in most other facets of our daily lives, such an individual cannot successfully continue as neither blind nor sighted. The partially sighted person's admission to himself that he is a blind person will not hinder him; rather it will greatly enhance his use of the excellent opportunities and techniques available. He should be encouraged to use his vision as well as his other capacities and senses. He should be persuaded to drop the fallacies and fabrications which he has used in his attempts to deny his deficiencies. Thus, both he and the professional worker, and the community at large, will learn to avoid convenient but erroneous comparisons and preconceived notions that tend to confuse rather than clarify his problems or his advantages.

The problems of educating and rehabilitating blind persons are overwhelming and hold significant challenges for the future. An ameliorating process from this point onward is strongly indicated. The mysteries of partial sightedness, although presenting such great challenges, can be solved, provided there is a sharing of the responsibility among the community, the professional worker, the family, and the partially sighted individual himself.
Education and the Deaf-Blind Child
Authors: Hoff Joel R.
Published: March 2020

To summarize, the education of deaf-blind children has made progress through the past 130 years because of the inspiration of the famous early teachers, Dr. Howe and Anne Sullivan, and their pupils, Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller, and the part they played in changing the educational philosophy for handicapped children, i.e. from one of pessimism to a more optimistic one. Medical advances have to some extent altered the handicapped population and are thus offering the educators of these children many new challenges involving educational evaluations and methods and systems of teaching.

At the present time seven schools or departments for deaf-blind children are serving deaf-blind children to the very best of their abilities with specially designed preschool and elementary educational programs. Their goal is the building of a foundation for these children upon which a realistically independent and social future, commensurate with each child's interests and potentials, may be based.
An Experiment in Improving Communication between Blind and Deaf-Blind Persons in a Residence for Older Blind Persons
Authors: Rusalem Herbert , Bettica Louis , John Urguhart M.S.W.
Published: March 2020

In an attempt to improve social interaction between blind and deaf-blind older persons living in the same agency-sponsored residence, a ten-session course in printing in the palm was offered to an experimental group of five blind volunteer subjects.

The sociometric data collected initially and six weeks after the completion of the training revealed no significant changes in attitudes and behavior in either the experimental or the control group. Observations of the Burrwood staff suggested that favorable behavior changes had occurred during and subsequent to the training program but that these changes were short-lived and had largely disappeared by the time that the second sociometric study was conducted.
From the Field
Authors: Wolf Benjamin
Published: March 2020

From the Field is a continuing series of reports from the American Foundation for the Blind's regional consultants on new ideas and practices thay have come across in their travels.
Learning from Experience: A Revisit to the Children's Corner
Authors: Richards Susan S. , Briller Stanley
Published: March 2020

□ In summary, going into the fourth year, the staff applied the following concepts specifically to the program for the children: play techniques emphasizing brighter, more highly textured materials; the use of light as an incentive for tactile exploration; the use of light to enhance residual vision; music to stimulate mobility and noisy toys to stimulate hearing; and the stabilization of security by the introduction or reintroduction of the one-to-one relationship.

One major aspect of child development that has been overlooked in the literature is the need for the blind child to develop the integrated use of both sides of his body in movement. This insures the smoother development of mobility as well as a clearer body image. With regard to the program for parents, the continued role of individual and group counseling of parents is necessary.

Increasingly complicated and demanding developmental problems have been faced over the three years and the children have shown progress over a short period of time.
Time, Money, and Students with Visual Limitations
Authors: Leavitt Glenn
Published: March 2020

□ Although all that has been said above may seem rather complicated and expensive, an application of these ideas should substantially simplify the task of learning effectively from college assignments. In applying these suggestions to a student's particular situation and to the evaluation of his need for new equipment, the following basic points made in this presentation should be considered: 1) Everything is read at the fastest comprehendable speed; 2) A small, portable machine is useful for recording lectures and for reading during available bits of time throughout the day; 3) Ideas from what is read are condensed and recorded onto separate reels for each major aspect of each subject (low frequency beeps are used to identify sections or dates on tapes); 4) Notes, rather than the original works, are used for review; 5) Face-to-face reading is kept to a minimum; 6) Braille reading is also kept to a minimum; and 7) Paid or volunteer readers are used to do as much “mechanical” work as possible.
The Case Study Approach in an Agency for the Blind
Authors: Dover Frances T.
Published: March 2020

□ The three case situations presented above all deal with the newly blinded person who is experiencing an agonizing reaction to his recent loss. In two of these cases, the loss was gradual and accommodation was attempted for as long as possible before seeking help from an agency for the blind. In each of the cases, contact with the agency was of recent origin. Had it not been for the final loss of vision, there is a real question of whether or not these individuals would have sought help from an agency for the blind instead of continuing to struggle along on their own.
Programming Individual and Adjunctive Therapeutic Services for Visually Impaired Clients in a Rehabilitation Center
Authors: Wilson Edouard L.
Published: March 2020

□ In conclusion, it is important to stress that while psychotherapy in a rehabilitation agency serving blind clients cannot undertake mental hygiene programming, it can still offer a comprehensive therapy program. Individual treatment, either by itself or in conjunction with group treatment, assures the client who is referred to a rehabilitation program for the blind of a comprehensive rehabilitation program in one agency. Without a therapeutic treatment program, the client could suffer immeasurably; with one, however, evidence has revealed that not only is the entire rehabilitation process shortened considerably, but that blind clients are now leaving as better adjusted human beings whose only limitation is blindness—a limitation for which they have been compensated through the integration of their emotions and other sensory modalities.
The Blind Teacher, Creativity, and the Multi-Sensory Classroom
Authors: Berger Gertrude
Published: March 2020

□ The innovative classroom of the blind teacher closely resembles the prototype which current research in creativity establishes. Such a classroom frees the imagination and develops skills which are broader than those seen in a traditional academic curriculum. Through multisensory explorations, pupils are offered an alternate mode of instruction, a technique for reinforcing learning from visual or verbal sources, and an opportunity to “see” in a total and all-embracing way.
What does it Mean to be “Legally Blind”?
Authors: Liska James S.
Published: March 2020

A short article reprinted from the Australian magazine Faithfully Theirs, in which a mobility instructor explains the measurement of 6/6 (metric) or 20/20 for normal vision and 6/60 or 20/200 as “legally blind.” Tunnel vision is also explained. That the partially sighted person can indeed “see” is placed in the perspective of having a cut-off line for eligibility for specialized services.
Trends Affecting Designs for Service
Authors: Sokoloff H. David
Published: March 2020

The architect-author calls for the re-examination of many of the basic assumptions made by those involved in designing the delivery of services to handicapped persons. He contrasts the old mechanical, linear, fragmented approach in planning with the emerging trends toward simultaneity, inter-involvement, sensitivity, awareness, and fulfillment. Normalization, as a proper goal of services, is fully discussed along with the ways in which agencies, decision-makers, professionals, and parents block its realization.
Modeling: An Effective Behavior Change Technique for Teaching Blind Persons
Authors: Burleson Georgia
Published: March 2020

The application of Bandura's modeling techniques in working with a legally blind male in a residential facility for the mentally retarded resulted in improved attitudes and behaviors. The client was a 38-year-old institutionalized male with severe feelings of anxiety who had previously rejected most efforts to provide teaching services and had avoided social and interpersonal encounters. Through the primary sensory modalities of audition and tactility he “observed” the model perform fear-arousing rehabilitative behavior and gradually learned to perform the behaviors himself. Apparent significant decreases in anxiety and increases in social and interpersonal interactions resulted. The description and implications of this case study should serve as a guide to others interested either in the direct application of modeling techniques or an effective method to help overcome clinically debilitating emotions in blind clients. The results suggest a need for an operational definition of “observation” in modeling theory to incorporate other sensory modalities than vision.
Teaching Oral-Aural Communication Skills in a Rehabilitation Center for the Blind
Authors: Leavitt Glenn
Published: March 2020

Oral-aural communication skills include listening, conversation, use of playback-recording devices, techniques of aural reading, and knowledge of the sources of recorded reading materials. The class activities involve instruction and practice with the Sony 105A tape recorder, Sony (TC70 and TC40) and GE tape cassette machines, talking book machines, and telephone. Exercises include listening and speaking skills and the many uses to which the equipment can be put.
Comprehensive Low Vision Care: Part One
Authors: Friedman Dagmar B. , Tallman Carter B. , Asarkof John E.
Published: March 2020

The program of vision rehabilitation at Boston University Medical Center is described. From July 1970, to July 1973, 1,000 patients were seen by a multidisciplinary staff of ophthalmologists, optometrists, and social workers. The staff, using an array of optical, mechanical, and electronic devices, plus additional professional consultation, made possible through the cooperation of state and voluntary agencies, focused their attention on the specific visual problems of the patient and the associated psychological, social, and economic difficulties which limited his activities. Teaching professionals and the public about the problems of the visually impaired person, the techniques of vision rehabilitation, and the availability of low vision services is included in the clinic program.
An Analysis of Attitudes—Dynamics and Effects
Authors: Wright Beatrice A.
Published: March 2020

Several cognitive factors are singled out because of their strong influence on the way in which the abilities of blind people are perceived, namely: the spread phenomenon, position of the observer, expectation discrepancy, restricting environmental opportunities in accord with expectations, attribution to person versus environment. In the affective area, negative emotional factors (pity, fear, uneasiness, guilt) and positive emotional factors (genuine sympathy, respect, appreciation, warm interpersonal relationships) are discussed. Ambivalence (the presence of both positive and negative components) is seen as contributing to the variability of behavior toward blind people. Finally, guidelines for the improvement of attitudes and environmental opportunities are outlined. Of special significance for the education of the public is the approach based on the coping framework as opposed to the succumbing framework. Integrating blind persons with sighted persons into as many activities as possible is supported. The vigorous engagement and leadership in programs for the blind by blind people working collaboratively with sighted people are also stressed.
Florida's Industrial Training Laboratory for Blind Persons
Authors: Hoskins Len
Published: March 2020

The program of the Industrial Training Laboratory includes an Electronics Training Course—with a curriculum aimed as mastery of a wide variety of work and independent living skills—and a Job Simulation Division. Examples of the specific kinds of training are presented, along with plans for expanding the scope of the program. Of the 50 persons who have completed the course during the last five years, 48 are currently employed in full-time competitive jobs.
Business Enterprises Education Program: A Course for Supervisors
Authors: Clark Robert P.
Published: March 2020

A short course for the training of supervisors of concession or vending stands operating under the Randolph-Sheppard Act was provided on a trial basis in 1972 and 1973 at the University of Tennessee. Instructors in the areas of educational psychology and guidance, management, marketing, accounting, food science, institution administration, etc., and consultants from the field of work for the blind participated. Thirty-one students attended the first course, 36 the second. Out of the two programs came a Course Guide and the recommendation that an ongoing graduate-level program be established.
A Nurse's Perspective: Blindness in Long-Term Care Facilities
Authors: Burnside Irene M.
Published: March 2020

The blind elderly residents of long-term care facilities often have multiple, complex problems, both physical and psychological, involving loss of hearing, immobility, language barriers, brain syndrome, and depression. To care for these individuals better, more intensive in-service staff education programs need to be initiated. Experiential techniques, such as the “blind walk,” are extremely potent in raising the level of sensitivity toward these individuals. Many specific suggestions for improving care are also offered.
Sex Education as Part of an Agency's Four-Week Summer Workshop for Visually Impaired Young People
Authors: Karpen Mary Lou , Lipke Lee Ann
Published: March 2020

The sex education program was developed by agency staff, parents, and resource persons. Curriculum content, which included the physical, emotional, and social aspects of sexual maturation, grooming and hygiene, cosmetics, and drug use and abuse, was based on the expressed interests of the students. Aiming for the development of personal growth in awareness, self-expression, and individual responsibility, the teaching strategies were student-oriented and included group discussion, group activities, problem-solving, and demonstration/participation.
Four Years’ Use of the Binaural Sensory Aid
Authors: Thornton Walter
Published: March 2020

After using the binaural sensory aid in conjunction with the long cane for years, the writer feels that his orientation and mobility have improved, that he experiences less stress and is therefore more willing to cope with travel situations he would previously have avoided, and that he has developed to some extent the ability to interpret the device's signals (to determine what object causes a particular auditory signal). He believes that a new model of the aid, Mark II, currently undergoing field tests, is superior to the various models of Mark I and that the binaural sensory aid, while not the perfect solution to all the mobility problems of blind people, is a successful mobility aid and environmental sensor.
Orientation and Mobility in Asia: The Hazards
Authors: Jaekle Robert C.
Published: March 2020

In this comparison of the hazards faced by the blind pedestrian in Asia and the United States, it is concluded that in Asia there must be much greater flexibility in the application of basic cane techniques. The absence of sidewalks, the crowded and obstacle-strewn streets, the wide variety of vehicles and roaming animals, deep storm drains, overgrown country trails, paddy fields, etc. require that orientation and mobility skills, including the use of touch and hearing, often be adapted to the true needs of the blind traveler.
The Vocational Development and Success of Visually Impaired Adolescents
Authors: Davidson Terry M.
Published: March 2020

Through an extensive review of the literature, it was found that visually impaired adolescents are not as vocationally immature as has often been suggested. Cultural patterns of exclusion from certain life and work roles play a very important role in the failure of many visually impaired individuals to enter the mainstream of American life. Improvements in the career education of visually impaired persons do need to be made, but an equally strenuous, well-organized effort to combat negative attitudes toward individuals who are visually impaired also needs to be mounted.
A Pilot Course to Assist Blind Potential Teachers
Authors: Nezol A. James
Published: March 2020

A pilot three-credit course for blind students considering becoming teachers was offered by Illinois State University in cooperation with the Illinois Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The goal of enhancing the probability of the students’ successfully entering the teaching profession was pursued through practicum experiences, a Practical Approaches Laboratory, mock lessons, materials preparation workshop, lecture-demonstrations, mock interviews, conferences, and exercises in problem-solving.
Programs for Blind Diabetic Clients at a Rehabilitation Center
Authors: Williams Marie S.
Published: March 2020

A workable diabetic program has been developed over the past three years in response to individual needs of blind diabetic clients at the Minneapolis Society for the Blind's Rehabilitation Center. Among the components of this program are ongoing cooperation with local diabetes groups, the services of a nurse-consultant, the use of a diabetic profile sheet, development of housing and medical resources and of teaching kits for insulin measurement and urine testing, and specific program accommodations for the diabetic. Special stress is placed on the idea of diabetes as a primary speciality, along with blindness, with commensurate education of staff in the area of diabetes. Accommodation to each diabetic as a separate and unique individual with separate and unique symptoms, control measures, and needs is seen as a critical necessity.
The Case of Mr. K.: Rehabilitation Vs. Institutionalization
Authors: Casabianca Jamie
Published: March 2020

The author uses the case history of David K., a 65-year-old blind man who came to the Center for Independent Living from a state psychiatric hospital, to illustrate the problem of blind persons confined to mental institutions merely because they have not been taught the skills for living in a sighted world and because no one is concerned enough to get them out of the hospitals and into rehabilitation programs. She also points out that it costs the government considerably less to pay for rehabilitation than to hospitalize someone for a period of years.
Sexual Trauma in Young Blind Children
Authors: Elonen Anna S. , Zwarensteyn Sara B.
Published: March 2020

Severely disturbed blind children referred to the authors for training and therapy had suffered a wide range of sexually traumatic experiences. Citing specific cases, attention is focused on incidents ranging from unintentional direct sexual stimulation to severe intentional sexual abuse inflicted by others on the blind child. The alleviation of isolation and the alertness of parents and professionals in preventing deviant incidents is stressed. A plea is made for innovative sex education for blind children.
Should Museums Serve the Visually Handicapped?
Authors: Toll Dove
Published: March 2020

The National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution undertook a research project to determine what could be done to enable visually handicapped persons to benefit from the museum's resources. Programs currently of interest to the blind were advertised, with maps of touchable objects throughout the museum made available. In addition, books about the Smithsonian have been brailled, cassette tours of individual halls prepared, exhibit designers encouraged to include more touchable objects in their displays, and docents given special training in how to relate to and guide blind persons. Further sources of information appear at the end of this article.
Cognitive Models for Spatial Representations in Congenitally Blind, Adventitiously Blind, and Sighted Subjects
Authors: Rosencranz Dean , Suslick Richard
Published: March 2020

Congenitally blind, adventitiously blind, and sighted subjects’ informal verbal response to questions about furniture arrangements verbally described by the experimenter were analyzed. From their accuracy, RT, and verbal protocols it was concluded that prior visual experience is crucial though not essential to the development of a “frame of reference,” i.e., a two-dimensional symbol structure for spatial representation. The conclusion supports the belief that visual-modality perceptual-symbol-structures are useful in the development of a frame of reference and also casts some doubt on Juurmaa's conclusion (1973) that the congenitally blind develop the same type of spatial representations as the sighted.
Some Functions of Active Handling: Studies with Blinded Humans
Authors: Davidson Philip W.
Published: March 2020

A review of a five-year research into the characteristics of effective search strategies and the contribution made by exploratory scanning to accurate perception, involving comparisons of blind and sighted individuals performing shape matching tasks by hand. Videotaping of hand movements combined with accuracy data in the experiments revealed that exploratory activity functions to focus attention and encode stimulus information so that what is learned and remembered about a shape is influenced by how it is explored. Exploratory activity seems to become more proficient and economical with experience, suggesting that the more accurate haptic perception of shape by blinded individuals might be linked to perceptual learning of better ways to explore the stimulus. Findings are considered in terms of implications for future research, especially in the area of braille reading.
Coupling the Output of the “Sonicguide” to the Ear of the User
Authors: Keen Keith
Published: March 2020

The auditory output of the “Sonicguide” (Ultrasonic Spectacles) must be delivered to the ear via a coupling tube. If a ‘no-mold’ fitting is used in favour of an earmold the coupling tube may not rest in the same position with successive insertions. Two experiments demonstrate that displacements of up to 8 mm in auditory coupling-tube position do not affect object location nor shorelining. Contraindications for ‘no-mold’ fittings are discussed.
Distance Low Vision Aids for Primary Level School Children
Authors: Friedman Gerald R.
Published: March 2020

The prescription of Distance Low Vision Aids (LVA) for children aged 5-13 years, can greatly improve their achievement both academically and socially. For LVAs may give the child increased proficiency in: board work, demonstration observation, viewing movies and slides, field trips, map reading, activities with peers, and orientation and mobility. However, satisfactory use of the aids requires an understanding of the ever changing classroom environment and needs close cooperation between the teacher and doctor prescribing the LVA.
How to Succeed at Being Blind
Authors: Selvin Hanan C.
Published: March 2020

Offers practical advice and information to people who are becoming blind, who have recently become blind, and for others who know or work with blind persons. Based on the author's experience as he himself lost his sight and, as a professional sociologist, gained invaluable help from his knowledge of research.
Community Based Orientation and Mobility Programs
Authors: Godley Susan Harrington , Hatch Cate
Published: March 2020

Outlines procedures for implementing a community based orientation and mobility program within a vocational rehabilitation agency. Discusses advantages and disadvantages of such programs compared with orientation and mobility training offered at residential facilities. Data are given on two community based programs, showing a high rate of successful rehabilitation.
Orientation and Mobility for the Low Functioning Deaf-Blind Child
Authors: Geruschat Duane R.
Published: March 2020

Describes how to do an initial evaluation, establish rapport, set realistic goals, and establish a training program. Stresses that a team approach is vital.
Effectiveness of Radio in Teaching Activities of Daily Living to Visually Handicapped Persons
Authors: Siskind Theresa G.
Published: March 2020

Little research has been done on the potential effectiveness of radio as a method of educating, training, and rehabilitating blind persons. This article describes an evaluation of a training program in South Carolina that combined radio instruction in housekeeping skills with home visits by instructors.
Information Services Relevant to the Field of Blindness
Authors: Lewis Mona K.
Published: March 2020

Lists information suppliers that may be helpful to those working in the blindness field. For each supplier gives a brief description of services, procedures for using them and cost.
Revision and Validation of a Test for Assessing the Spatial Conceptual Abilities of Visually Impaired Children
Authors: Hill Everett W. , Hill Mary-maureen
Published: March 2020

The purpose of the investigation described in this article was to revise Hill's test for assessing the development of spatial concepts among visually impaired children, “Concepts Involved in Body Position and Space,” establish the test's validity and reliability, and collect normative data. Orientation and mobility specialists administered the revised instrument to 273 visually impaired children ages 6 through 10 from 48 different educational programs in 23 states. Normative data were then collected in the form of percentiles by age; percentage passing each item by age and by reading modes; and indexes for the difficulty and discriminatory power of each item as well as the proportion of correct answers. According to the results, the revised instrument is valid and reliable enough to use with visually impaired children in the age groups studied.
Spatial Representation in Blind Children. 1: Development Compared to Sighted Children
Authors: Fletcher Janet F.
Published: March 2020

Studies of the development of spatial representation have led to blind children being characterized as deficient, inefficient, or different when compared to sighted children. The study described in this article involved 68 blind and blindfolded sighted students who explored a real or model room, either freely or guided along a predetermined route. The subjects then were questioned about the position of furniture in the room. Some questions could be answered from memory of the route traversed; others required the formation of a cognitive map for their solution. Data were analyzed in terms of the proportion of each type of question correctly answered by each age group. As a group, sighted students performed better than blind students. However, some blind students performed as well as the sighted students. The results of the study show the deficiency theory to be untenable, but do not provide conclusive support for either the inefficiency or difference theories.
Why Not Visual Braille?
Authors: Klebaner Ruth Perlman
Published: March 2020

A special forum for individuals to respond in detail to material published in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness or elsewhere, to present new ideas, or to raise issues which relate to the specialized field of work with blind and visually handicapped persons. Contributions should be 350-1000 words in length.
Use of the Talking Calculator to Improve Mathematical Skills
Authors: Weiss Johnette Bartholomew , Weiss Jeff
Published: March 2020

Describes a study at the Rehabilitation Center, Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, to determine if training with a talking calculator would improve basic arithmetic skills. Thirty-five visually impaired adults were tested before and after a period of training; there was an 87 percent improvement in their mean posttest scores over their mean pretest scores. Thus, given proper training and tools, it is possible for visually impaired adults to develop good mathematical skills.
Fifty Assessment Instruments Commonly Used with Blind and Partially Seeing Individuals
Authors: Swallow Rose-Marie
Published: March 2020

For each of the 50 most commonly used assessment instruments, gives the age/grade for which it is designed, the time required to take the test, a brief description, and name and address of publisher.
Assessing Blind Travelers’ Knowledge of Spatial Layout
Authors: Lockman Jeffrey J. , Rieser John J. , Pick Herbert L.
Published: March 2020

An easy-to-use objective method for evaluating a blind person's knowledge about the spatial layout of a locale is presented in this article. Ten adventitiously blind adults made judgments about the relative distance between landmarks. These data were analyzed with multidimensional scaling procedures. Preliminary evidence indicates that the representations of spatial knowledge generated from the scaling procedures are related to the persons mobility performance in that space. Strengths and weaknesses and needed additional studies on the validity of the method are discussed.
Paper Barriers
Authors: Olson Carl W.
Published: March 2020

A special forum for individuals to respond in detail to material published in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness or elsewhere, to present new ideas, or to raise issues which relate to the specialized field of work with blind and visually handicapped persons. Contributions should be 350-1000 words in length.
You Can Stop the Cuts: Practical Lessons on Becoming a Politician
Authors: Dinsmore Alan M.
Published: March 2020

Despite the damage caused by the federal budget cuts of 1981, the worst is yet to come—unless blind people and the professionals who work with them can fight back effectively. To influence legislators successfully, opponents of proposed legislative changes must (1) have access to timely and authoritative information, (2) refine their working knowledge of the legislative process, (3) understand the nature and value of coalitions, and (4) be able to make legislators and their supporters understand how proposed changes in law will affect blind people. Mr. Dinsmore points out that the authors of the 1981 budget legislation were successful precisely because they had mastered the combination of these four elements. Thus those who oppose them must be equally well equipped. He discusses each element in detail to provide an effective model for action.
Mental Processes Mediating Independent Travel: Implications for Orientation and Mobility
Authors: Rieser John J. , Guth David A. , Hill Everett W.
Published: March 2020

Despite advances in the professional areas of orientation and mobility, processes of spatial learning and orientation are not well understood, and the benefits of existing teaching techniques vary widely from client to client. Wayfinding is mediated by mental processes through which travelers learn the spatial layout of a locale, update their own positions relative to their surroundings, and apply general spatial concepts to particular travel situations. In this article we describe these three components, describe what is well known about each and what we need to know to improve professional practice, and provide a detailed description of three experiments which are focussed on the use of one component (spatial updating) by early-blinded, late-blinded, and sighted adults.
The Future Role of Residential Schools for Visually Handicapped Children
Authors: Spungin Susan Jay
Published: March 2020

During a meeting at the American Foundation for the Blind in early 1979, representatives from the federal Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, and from public and private residential schools for visually handicapped children discussed the impact of Public Law 94-142.* Given the philosophy of the new administration in Washington, D.C., the possible elimination of P.L. 94-142, the impact of individual state legislation (which still follows the dictates of federal legislation), and the ever changing needs of the population they serve, residential schools must continually examine new roles and responsibilities for themselves. Because the law requires state and local educational agencies, residential schools, and other organizations dealing with handicapped children to work together to provide a continuum of services, the participants concluded that residential schools would continue to play a vital role in the education of handicapped children. Consequently the participants agreed that unless monitered carefully, the major impact of the federal legislation would be to make residential school programs responsible solely for multiply handicapped visually impaired children. They also agreed that least restrictive environment must not be construed as the physical boundaries to an educational institution, but rather as that setting in which the child will be least restricted in attaining his or her potential for educational growth.
Considerations in Diagnosing Usher's Syndrome: RP and Hearing Loss
Authors: Vernon Mccay , Boughman Joann A. , Annala Linda
Published: March 2020

The association of hearing loss and retinitis pigmentosa has been generally recognized as Usher's Syndrome, although variations in the syndrome have not been clearly delineated. The diagnosis of a progressive visual disease in a person with severe hearing impairment has devastating implications for the individual's future. This article reviews findings of this syndrome and suggests strategies for dealing with some of the clinical problems displayed by Ushers Syndrome patients.
An Electronic Teaching Device for Blind Students
Authors: Nater Paul
Published: March 2020

This article describes research conducted in the early 1970s on the comparative efficiency of an electronic teaching system for programmed instruction (the BRAILLOPHON) and a conventional brailled book program for teaching blind students to spell. The results indicated that the BRAILLOPHON was significantly more efficient as a teaching device than the book program. Furthermore, among 40 students who used the BRAILLOPHON, those in the lowest IQ range made greater percentage learning gains than did those with higher IQs and compensated for deficiencies in learning abilities by extending the time required to complete the program.
Comprehension of Synthetic Speech by Blind Children
Authors: Rhyne Jane Milnes
Published: March 2020

This research investigated the ability of blind children to comprehend synthetic speech as a result of practice in listening to it. After four 11- to 13-year-old blind students from a state residential school for the blind were tested to establish their listening grade levels, they listened individually to tape recordings of the Kurzweil Reading Machine reading stories that were one level below their tested level. After each story, the children answered multiple-choice comprehension questions read aloud by the researcher by marking braille answer sheets. Each child listened to four stories per day for 10 days (total: 40 stories). Comprehension scores were obtained by calculating the percentage of correct answers to questions about each story. Statistical analyses of the children's scores revealed a significant difference among comprehension scores at the .10 level of confidence and the presence of a linear trend at the .01 level of confidence. These results suggest that as exposure to synthetic speech increases, so does comprehension of synthetic speech.
Theater and Television Come to Life through Audio Description
Authors: Rockwell Margaret W. , Boris Alexandra
Published: March 2020

The Audio Description Service, a system of low-powered radio equipment that delivers descriptive commentary for theatrical productions, is described. Speculations on future applications are also presented.
The Rowley Decision: How the Supreme Court Views the Education of Handicapped Children
Authors: McGarry Barbara D.
Published: March 2020

This review of the U.S. Supreme Court's first interpretation of Public Law 94-142 details the national economic environment in which the decision took place, provides a history of the Rowley case in the courts, and considers the financial implications of the Supreme Court's ruling.
Computer Applications to Braille
Authors: Holladay David
Published: March 2020

Applications of the BRAILLE-EDIT text editing computer program are described, as well as a modification that trasforms BRAILLE-EDIT into a math translation program.
Neuropsychological, Learning and Developmental Characteristics of the Low Vision Child
Authors: Daugherty Kathryn M. , Moran Michael F.
Published: March 2020

This study was conducted to provide a comprehensive profile of the low vision child in the areas of cognitive, psychomotor, academic and neuropsychological development. The case-study method was employed to study 50 children on 143 variables using the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery, the Stephens Piagetian Battery of Reasoning Assessments and standardized achievement tests. Results of the study indicated that the sample of low-vision children was characterized by significant delays in cognitive and psychomotor development and academic achievement. Thirty-two subjects or 65 percent of the total sample were classifiable as either brain-damaged or learning disabled by the application of the Selz and Reitan Rules Analysis (1980) and the Halstead Impairment Index to the neuropsychological data.
Vocational Information Seminar
Authors: Tyler Greta T.
Published: March 2020

A weekend seminar for blind and visually impaired persons, introducing them to a variety of employment fields, is described.
An Adaptive Approach to Teaching the Use of the Sonicguide™ with Modifications for Orthopedic Involvement
Authors: Kitzhoffer Gerald J.
Published: March 2020

Describes the use of the Sonicguide™, a binaural sensory aid, by a quadraplegic, totally blind student. It details the rationale for training, device adaptations, training, and the eventual use of the device as a primary mobility aid.
Physical Fitness of Blind and Visually Impaired Detroit Public School Children
Authors: Seelye Wilma
Published: March 2020

In a preliminary study on the relationship between visual handicap and physical fitness, the Kraus-Weber Minimum Physical Fitness Test for children was administered to 111 normally sighted, partially sighted, and blind students in the Detroit public schools. Whereas 95 percent of the normally sighted children and 84 percent of the partially sighted children passed the test, only 46 percent of the blind students did so. Suggestions for preventing or correcting this secondary disability are offered.