Bibliotherapy (use of books to help people deal with problems in their lives) can be very useful in helping blind people adjust to their loss. Criteria for material selection should address matters of reading preference, education and work history, prognosis, and nature of the adjustment problem. (CL)

Research (both data based and descriptive) on the development of self-concept in sighted and blind children is reviewed. Unanswered questions regarding family's childrearing methods, anxiety level, and the growth of positive self-concept are cited. The educator's role in promoting the blind child's self-esteem is emphasized. (CL)

The article describes a model for conceptualizing the psychology of adjustment to visual loss. The aim of the model is to establish definitions and guidelines within which techniques for working with the blind may be used. (Author)

Individual differences in adjusting to or coping with blindness appear related to the presence or absence of certain irrational belief statements about this disability. Mythology regarding blind people is discussed and methods by which individuals can rid themselves of or be helped to eliminate these irrational beliefs are described. (Author)

Described is a young man's personal experiences with a sequence of visual losses, the physical and psychological problems these losses caused, and his solutions for or adjustments to them. (Author/BD)

The author draws a parallel between the psychological stages of adjustment a newly blinded individual goes through and the stages of adjustment experienced by the parents of a blind child. (Author/SB)

The uses and effects of group therapy with elderly blind people are discussed and some ideas are offered for overcoming clients' resistance to mental health services and for facilitating their emotional adjustment to visual loss by using nontraditional group therapy techniques. (Author/DLS)

The article describes how a rehabilitation center for the blind, aware that many clients were inept in dealing with society at large, instituted an assertive skills training program to improve client skills in this area. (Author/SBH)

The psychosocial and visual problems of proliferating diabetic retinopathy are discussed in terms of four stages: discovery of the diagnosis, developing awareness of the diagnosis, realization of disability, and stabilization of vision. (Author)

Group counseling for secondary students with Usher's syndrome, a genetic condition resulting in hearing impairment at birth and gradual loss of vision, was intended to provide information and opportunities for expression. Results included practical changes in school environment, increased information about deaf-blindness for the students, and help…

Semistructured interviews with six mothers of visually impaired children found three dominant themes emerging: (1) emotional issues (e.g., the time of diagnosis); (2) coping strategies (e.g., use of support networks); and (3) problems and concerns about relationships with professionals, the child's education, people's attitudes, and the amount of…

A counselor blind from birth describes personal difficulties in fully understanding the experience of clients who are adventitiously blind. Congenitally blind counselors are urged to recognize that adaptive methods cannot compensate for the panoramic view of the environment provided by vision and that recently blinded individuals need to deal with…

This article reviews services offered by comprehensive rehabilitation centers for the blind, as described by former clients in an essay contest. Contestants wrote of their psychological reactions to blindness and their attitudes, both positive and negative, toward the services, staff, and structure of the programs. (Author/DB)

This article uses both case examples and reports from archives and oral literature to illustrate the broad range of connections between blindness and superstitions, folklore, beliefs, and mythology. Clinicians are urged to be aware of these beliefs as they counsel individuals adapting to the loss of vision. (Author/DB)

The author's research has shown that juvenile and adult diabetics, because of the pressures of dealing with their illness over time and because of the ways they are treated by others, develop certain traits and characteristics in common. (Author/PHR)