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…

Analysis of completed questionnaires from 192 individuals with newly diagnosed epilepsy found that half the sample had experienced only 3 seizures or less since onset, but 91% reported at least some adjustment problems, most frequently concerning fear of seizures, fear of stigma in employment, or problems with accepting the diagnosis. (DB)

The characteristic features of psychogenic stuttering of adult onset are reviewed, and four cases of this disorder are presented. Psychogenic stuttering of adult onset is classified as a conversion reaction, and tentative criteria for this diagnosis are proposed. (Author/JDD)

This article addresses the lack of access to low-vision rehabilitation services by individuals needing them, due to lack of coverage by public or private health insurance. Improved insurance coverage would result in improved access as well as more direct referrals by ophthalmologists, more consumer choice, more timely rehabilitation, reduced…

The Braille Institute's Community Outreach Program provides adventitiously blinded older adults with opportunities to volunteer in local community agencies, schools, and hospitals upon completion of the institute's special education program. Students use new independence skills in a functional social environment, thereby increasing their…

This manual is intended to give teachers a basic understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and an in-depth understanding of techniques for evaluating the student with TBI in order to provide appropriate programming. Section 1 introduces a definition of TBI including incidence and causes, an overview of neuroanatomy, primary and secondary…

Two experiments compared single v double lines on tactile mobility maps using 12 blindfolded sighted Ss, 12 congenitally blind Ss, and 12 adventitiously blinded Ss (age range for all three groups, 7 to 72). (Author)

Presents case studies of three adolescent boys with progressive vision loss who gradually became blind during adolescence. Examines the relationship between the boys' psychological adjustment to their blindness and their acquisition of braille reading skills. (Author)

Word finding in relation to brain injury is discussed for children and adolescents with unilateral congenital malformations of the brain, early hydrocephalus, childhood-acquired left hemisphere stroke, and acquired traumatic head injury. Studies examining the recovery of word-finding deficits after brain injury are discussed, along with…

Questionnaires assessed the Braille instructional needs of 200 people who had lost their sight after learning to read and were enrolled in Braille courses. Findings indicated that Braille instructional sessions were often only once or twice a month instead of the recommended daily frequency. Individualized teaching methods and materials are also…

Adventitiously blind adults (n=79) who had accepted mobility training were compared to 60 subjects who had rejected training. Personality profiles varied significantly between groups on seven scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: psychasthenia; schizophrenia; psychopathic deviate; depression; hypomania; paranoia; and…

This study compared American Sign Language (ASL) abilities in 36 deaf adults who acquired ASL either in early childhood or in later childhood and who were born deaf or later lost their hearing. Subjects who acquired ASL as a second language after early childhood outperformed those who acquired it as a first language at the same age. (Author/DB)

This article introduces a reprint of an 1835 article by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard entitled, "Existing State of the Art of Instructing the Deaf and Dumb". It reviews Barnard's background and achievements (including 25 years as the president of Columbia College), his familial progressive deafness, and his advanced views on communication…

Spelling performance was compared for 50 children who had hemiplegia sustained either prenatally (N=32) or postnatally (N=18) and for four children with hemispherectomies. The group study of subjects with hemiplegia divided the children into four groups based on hemispheric side and age at injury. This approach sought to investigate quantitative…