An analysis of the annual reports of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind from 1966 to 1975 and examination of numbers registered with the Commission from 1976 and 1977 revealed a 69 per cent increase in the registered population for these 12 years. (Author)

One of the most prevalent visual impairments of people aged 60 and older is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which ranks third globally as a cause of visual impairment (World Health Organization, 2006). The purpose of this study was to conduct a tentative subjective assessment of eccentric viewing by persons with AMD. The authors recruited…

The article examines the relative sizes of the nation's partially sighted, legally blind but not functionally blind, and functionally blind populations as a function of age. (Author/CL)

An abstract of a study done during doctoral work (Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). (RJ)

As the result of inservice training and public information efforts in the Fremont (California) Unified School District, 138 children were referred to the district's program for visually impaired students over a 3 1/2 year period. (Author)

Thirty-seven students who were blind or had low vision listed as many examples of 10 categories as they could and the prototype order of examples was scored. No differences between blind or low-vision students were found, but categories with which the students had a greater degree of direct sensory experience produced more examples and higher…

Parents (n=52) of blind and partially sighted infants and preschoolers were surveyed concerning the frequency of occurrence and stability of the children's stereotyped behaviors. Stereotyped behaviors frequently observed in blind children proved to be stable, whereas other stereotyped behaviors were less stable. Age of child and frequency of…

A random sample of registered blind people in England and Wales (5% of those aged 16 to 65 and 1.7% of those aged 65 to 79) was interviewed in 1965 regarding mobility, orientation, and reading. Data included age, age when blindness occurred, sex, residual sight for mobility, residual sight for reading, other disabilities, and ability to walk…

This study examined the personal networks and social supports of 316 blind and visually impaired youth, ages 14-23, in the Netherlands. The average participant had a personal network of 15 people (compared to 15-20 for sighted adolescents.) The oldest adolescents had the largest networks and blind adolescents had the smallest. For all adolescents,…

To train blind persons in the use of the long cane mobility technique and to reach a variety of clients, a demonstration used the trainee's home as a base of operation. Of 198 referrals during the 3-year project, 61 persons started training and 42 persons between the ages of 12 and 92 successfully completed the instruction. Trainees began to learn…

This study compared characteristics of adults with visual impairments who were either successful or unsuccessful in retaining jobs in competitive employment settings. Data were obtained from a database of vocational rehabilitation (VR) client cases collected from 1978 to 1986. The final sample included three groups: (1) a noncompetitive group of…

Derived from household interviews, the study was based upon a sample of about 42,000 households including 134,000 persons. Findings were that the visually impaired represented an older segment of the population and that the marked increase in estimated trends resulted not from severe but rather from other impairments. Of an estimated 5,029,000…