Education of the Visually Impaired

Historical Development

Transitions from isolation to segregation for those who are visually impaired began in the early 19th century when students left their homes and lived as residents in schools. The oldest and best–known residential school is the Perkins School, started by Samuel Gridley Howe in the United States in 1821. Students were taught with others who were visually impaired. The first publicly funded residential school for the blind was started in Ohio in 1837, the same year that Louis Braille published his system of touch reading. Later, day classes were started in urban areas, sometimes in public libraries. Advocates then pushed for classes in public schools. The first was started in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909.

The age at which a person becomes visually impaired has implications for that person's learning. When visual impairment is present at birth, children have a more limited understanding of their own surroundings than those whose onset occurs later. Also, the more severe the disability, the more challenging is teaching and learning.

Children and youth who are diagnosed as visually impaired may be legally blind or partially sighted. Their condition is based on visual acuity and field of vision limitations. Visual acuity is the ability to distinguish forms and to discriminate details. Acuity is typically measured using letters and symbols as presented on the Snellen chart, which is a device used by vision professionals to measure visual acuity. Normal vision exists when one can read a 3/8-inch letter at 20 feet. Those whose visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye after correction are considered legally blind. Those whose visual acuity is no better than 20/70 in the better eye after correction are considered partially sighted.

In addition to the lack of visual acuity, one may be legally blind due to a restricted field of vision. With normal vision, objects can be seen within a range of about 160 to 170 degrees. But a person whose field of vision is restricted to 20 degrees or less is legally blind. Others are legally blind when their sight is restricted so that they cannot see objects in the center of their field of vision.

Fewer than 2 children in 1,000 are visually impaired, and about half of them have one or more additional disabilities. These children with multiple handicaps present unique challenges for teaching and learning. In recognition of these challenges, state and federal policymakers have long subsidized programs for preparing qualified teachers and related personnel. Through the availability of assistive technology, instruction and normalization for those who are visually impaired have improved. Assistive technology includes devices that are used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals who are visually impaired. Examples are low–vision aids such as: bold–line paper, Braille–writers, screen readers, Braille printers, and communication devices. Optical character recognition systems scan printed material and “speak” the text. And, Braille embossers create hard–copy Braille from text files. Assistive devices need not be high technology; for example, in 1932, under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal program, the Library of Congress made Talking Books, books read aloud on phonograph recordings, available without cost to any citizen who was legally blind. Technologically upgraded, the program continues to this day.

...