Queen Alexandra College of Further Education for Blind and Partially Sighted in Birmingham, England, is one of six rehabilitation centers to be involved in an initiative aimed at improving the training of disabled people as part of the HELIOS (Handicapped People in the European Community Living Independently in an Open Society) program.…

The special issue focuses on problems of developing nations in blindness prevention, program development, and rehabilitation of the blind. Included are reports of programs in Indonesia, Jordan, Korea, and India; activities of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind; and descriptions of 24 organizations serving the blind in developing…

The provision of high quality orientation and mobility (O&M) services to older persons with visual impairments requires consideration of problems in attitudes, client characteristics, financial resources, inservice training, and the availability of age-appropriate assessment instruments. This paper discusses research on O&M interventions and…

The efforts of Sight Savers, a service program of the Royal Commonwealth for the Blind, to stem the outward flow of hard currency from developing countries are described. Sight Savers furthers program sustainability by emphasizing local manpower development, selecting equipment that requires less and cheaper maintenance, and using local currency…

Two factors are discussed that should influence the planning and development of rehabilitation services for visually impaired people: social perceptions/expectations (media influence, leisure, health, quality of life, and equality of opportunity) and external environmental influences (demographic, economic, social, political, and physical).…

This article describes the Rehabilitation Teachers Division of Migdal Or, an Israeli rehabilitation agency. It discusses the division's history, structure, features, and adaptations from other programs to the needs and cultures of blind and visually impaired people in Israel. (Author/JDD)

A program of the Finnish Central Federation of the Visually Handicapped is described. The program's aim is to provide and develop teaching materials and instructional methods to help persons who lost their eyesight as adults to learn braille. Discussed are personal tutoring, correspondence studying, regional courses, and program plans. (Author/JDD)

The Christoffel-Blindenmission helps support 26 schools, centers, and rehabilitation programs for individuals with visual impairments in South America. This article discusses the organization's limited use of foreign specialists to discourage overdependency on the agency and to encourage local personnel to establish their own programs. (Author/JDD)

The Royal Blind Society of New South Wales sponsors a program called Sportskills Week in which individuals with visual impairments are provided opportunities to pursue goals common to the population as a whole. Sighted athletes who assist in the program take their expertise back to local communities to develop additional programs. (JDD)

The paper describes issues involved in a project to assist providers of services for the visually impaired to plan and initiate programs directed toward Nepal's low vision population. Discussed are demographic factors; organization of prevention, education, and rehabilitation programs; development of a systematic and coordinated national plan; and…

Described are the most common eye conditions that can cause low vision and the kinds of services required by low vision persons. (Author)

The paper contrasts the traditional model of referral for rehabilitation services for blind and visually impaired persons in Israel with a new model--the rehabilitation information station, which links administrative, social, medical, and functional rehabilitation and results in faster receipt of services and increased ophthalmologists' awareness…

The article traces the experiences of the Malaysian Association for the Blind in developing rehabilitation services for rural blind persons. It explains the rationale for a community-based approach to rehabilitation and concludes that center-based and community-based approaches to rehabilitation complement each other in bringing services to rural…

Nongovernment organizations providing services to visually handicapped persons in developing nations should direct increased efforts toward project evaluation, monitoring, documentation, and dissemination, to ensure that innovative, flexible strategies direct self-help information to the "grassroots" level in forms that are familiar,…

This article describes the High Vision Games, a habilitation model for youth with low vision which involves a pregame training phase; the games, where participants demonstrate their visual skills in high tech, low tech, or no tech versions; and postgame follow-through activities. The approach has had positive training, social, and professional…