Juliet Stone

Realities and Opportunities

Education of the Visually Handicapped (Birmingham, UK) showed a video of work being done with small children at his unit and Dr Mercedes Rodriguez (Spain) showed us the range of appliances and services that are available in her centre in Madrid. Dr Massimo Campo (Italy) discussed the semantics and philosophy of low vision. Professor Charles Corb6 (France) gave an account of developments in his hospital of the uses of contrast sensitivity in low vision patients, with some interesting variants and possibilities. In the last formal session a talk was given by Han Neve (Netherlands) who is working on the use of hand magnifiers and evaluating the characteristics that make them more or less

Literacy for blind children through moon: a possibility?

The population of blind children in the United Kingdom has been changing significantly over the last thirty years, with an increase in the number of blind children with additional handicaps. For many of these children the study of braille as a medium of communication has proved too difficult, so that in effect they are being denied access to literacy. Although it has been used for almost 150 years, mainly for the elderly blind, moon has never been formally investigated as a suitable system of communication for children. Technological changes which have made it easier to write moon have resulted in more teachers looking to this system as a possible alternative to braille for certain blind children. In this context, a study has recently begun at the University of Birmingham which seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of moon in developing the literacy of blind students with learning difficulties.

Educational Advisory Services — a national provision?

This article suggests that advisory services for visually handicapped children are not offering an adequate level of support to pupils within mainstream schools. Because of the wide differences in the number of peripatetic teachers in each team, in the size of their individual caseloads, and in their pay scales, little comparison can be made between the services provided in various parts of the country. The problem is further compounded by the fact that there are no uniform criteria for the selection of pupils to be supported.

And after school

This article describes one of the few UK designated services for visually impaired students in Further and Higher Education that is not physically located in a specialist college. It raises some of the issues involved in delivering such a service to do with personal support, funding, staffing and liaison.

Has Braille had its day

Juliet Stone reviews some of the controversies surrounding braille, literary usage and deployment in the environment and concludes that controversies are likely to continue.

Meeting the training needs of teachers of the visually handicapped from developing countries in Africa

For over thirty years Birmingham University has offered training courses for teachers wishing to specialise in the education of the visually handicapped. In addition to a large national intake it has consistently attracted students from all parts of the world, with African countries very well represented. In the last three years for example, teachers from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania have attended the one-year full time course. In 1986 a tutor was appointed with special responsibility for overseas students taking this training, which leads to a qualification at Diploma or BPhil level. This article, based on interviews with past and present students, seeks to examine the background to, and the recent development of, education for visually handicapped children and young people in parts of Africa and to identify the factors which lead to successful and relevant training in courses of this nature.

Can't I finish the story? teaching braille to infants

The teaching of literacy to young children through braille is a complex matter. Although the principles underlying tactile readan have been established for a long time, new teaching approaches and reading schemes have much to offer the teacher. for a long time, new teaching approacbes and reading

The sexual abuse of children with visual impairments

Approximately ten per cent of children in the United Kingdom are sexually abused and research suggests that handicapped children are similarly being sexually exploited. Replies to a questionnaire from special teachers indicated that more than half of them had had to deal with the suspected abuse of visually impaired children. There is need for further research; raised awareness on the part of professional staff; and the development of preventive strategies.