The article describes the Fishburne Code tactile labeling system as a practical alternative for those adult blind who are unwilling or unable to learn braille. Instructional materials, teaching methods, and practical applications of the Fishburne Code are noted. (Author/DB)

Meta-analysis of the literature (47 studies) comparing spatial task performance of blind and sighted subjects found that early onset (of blindness) groups generally showed poorer performance than either the late onset or the sighted groups. (Author/DB)

Superior performance by adventitiously blind Ss relative to congenitally blind Ss appeared on tasks where the stimuli were complex, familiar and/or apprehenced with arm's length of the body, but not on tasks where the stimuli were relatively simple, novel, and/or apprehenced only through locomotion. (Author/MC)

This paper describes four syndromes of acquired dyslexia in adults: deep (phonemic) dyslexia, surface (semantic) dyslexia, phonological dyslexia, and letter-by-letter reading (word-form dyslexia). Each description inquires whether reading performance is (1) sensitive to dimensions of words; (2) affected by experimental manipulations; and (3)…

An easy-to-use objective method for evaluating a blind person's knowledge about the spatial layout of a locale was used with 10 adventitiously blind adults. Preliminary evidence indicated that the representations of spatial knowledge generated from the scaling procedures are related to the person's mobility performance in that space. (Author)

This study reviewed records of several American schools for the deaf in the 19th century concerning the stated causes of deafness given by parents. The high rate of adventitious deafness is noted. Stated causes are categorized into: fevers, inflammations, medicines/poisons, trauma, heat/cold, ear problems, nervous system problems, head/neck…

An adventitiously visually impaired individual examines differences between the neurological, psychological, and educational development of persons blinded either very early in life or much later. (DB)

A study of seven people with congenital blindness, three with adventitious blindness, and four sighted people investigated how people with congenital blindness experience body capability, body expression, and the social and psychological, identity creating aspects of the body and body experience. The value of exercise and body-awareness training…

The study examined the possible existence of a perceptual hierarchy which is systematically affected by the onset of adventitious visual impairment. Results with 80 persons with partial vision indicated a demarcation of difficulty between the simpler and more complex levels of the hierarchy. (DB)

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 literature review found that 23 of the 27 works examined emphasized the impact of society or a combination of societal and personal factors, rather than solely the personal experience of blindness, on emotional and psychological reactions to adventitious blindness. Implications for rehabilitation services are noted. (Author/DB)

A course on information and resources should be a basic component of any rehabilitation program for newly blinded individuals. (Author)

Decreased naturalness of speech in a 20-year-old closed-head injured male was related to short, uniform breath groups, inhalation during every pause, and restricted fundamental frequency. Data related to patterns of breathing and pausing during samples of connected speech along with measures of respiratory control are presented. (Author/CL)

A study involving 23 blind students (6-12 years old) revealed that age at onset of blindness did not appear to be critical in mastery of space concepts. One-third of the Ss exhibited atypical spatial development, g mastering relative positions of left and right before mirror-image orientation. (Author/CL)

Spatial memory for configurations was studied in 36 congenitally blind, late-blinded, and sighted adults. (Author/DLS)