The study sought to determine whether children with unilateral cerebral lesions sustained either prenatally or postnatally suffer from deficts in learning and memory skills and whether these differentiate left-sided from right-sided lesions. The subjects, 69 children ranging in age from 6 to 17 were divided into four patient groups: hemoplegic Ss…

Individuals (n=125, ages 15 to 25) with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates were surveyed concerning gender, disability type and cause, parental status, and level of family income. Results indicated that: (1) individuals with acquired disabilities had more problems than those with congenital disabilities, and (2) people with physical…

Data from 1,309 persons who were working and became hard of hearing or deafened between the ages of 18 and 65 are analyzed to determine work outcomes in terms of occupation, perception of work achievement, earning power, support of supervisors and colleagues, and work adaptations. Data show that work success is possible and usual after…

A nurse educator specializing in diabetes recounts her own experience with vision loss resulting from diabetic retinopathy, considers the roles of rehabilitation specialists and diabetes educators, and urges the two professional groups to work together more closely. (DB)

Analysis of deaf college students' (N=100) performance on the Degrees of Reading Power test (which assesses reading comprehension with use of a modified cloze procedure) revealed that postlingually deaf students scored higher than prelingually deaf students. Scores correlated with degree of hearing loss for prelingually deaf students and…

The speech of a five year old boy who suffered a profound hearing loss following meningitis was sampled at two week intervals for nine months. It was speculated that phonetic processes such as diphthongization, syllabification, and prolonged duration may be strategies for enhancing feedback during speech. (Author)

This study investigated the relationship between perceived family environment and psychological distress among 76 adults with visual impairments of fewer than 4 years duration, who had undergone at least 4 months of rehabilitation classes. Family environmental traits strongly influenced adjustment to vision loss. Distress was positively correlated…

This article describes the development and implementation of an innovative program of information centers in Israel that is designed to identify newly blind persons and to give them first-hand information about available services, as well as to stimulate an awareness of rehabilitation services among medical personnel. (Author/DB)

Children and adolescents (n=40) with congenital or adventitious blindness were exposed to two unfamiliar environments. Evaluation of subjects' spatial representations (through construction of models and estimates of distance) found that age appeared to be more important than learning in their development of spatial representation skills. (DB)

The speech perception performance of 10 congenitally deaf and 3 postlingually deafened children who received multichannel cochlear implants were compared at preimplant and 6-month intervals up to 2 years. The congenitally deaf children did not exhibit measurably improved performance until after 12 months or more of implant use, whereas…

The 1984-85 Venezuelan Survey of Deaf Children collected information on 804 deaf students between ages 3 and 14. Among findings were that 29% of the cases were caused by maternal rubella, that 36% had additional handicaps, and that meningitis was the most frequently reported after-birth cause of hearing losses. (Author/DB)

Differences in how the two hemispheres of the brain handle spatial information were studied with blind subjects and blindfolded sighted subjects. The performances of all groups declined as the relative disorientation between the target and its duplicate increased, suggesting that visual imagery is not crucial to mental rotation. (Author/SEW)

The extent to which the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) measures aspects of personality and cognitive impairment was explored in 81 male alcoholics receiving treatment for alcoholism. Results suggest GEFT may be more a measure of cognitive impairment than personality. Alternative explanations are explored. (Author/RL)

This article describes major issues in teaching Braille to students with acquired visual disability and presents results of a survey of 22 teachers of students with visual impairments in Texas. The survey addressed demographic characteristics, instructional schedules, materials, and instructional methods. Results have implications for development…