British Journal of Visual Impairment

This paper examines the role of special schools for visually impaired learners in the light of current thinking on such notions as inclusiveness, parental choice, and Government legislation and Codes of Practice. Particular attention is directed towards uncertainties over the future of non-maintained special schools (NMSS), the numbers of which have been declining in recent years. An account is given of how one NMSS is responding to these changes by developing a partnership with the Local Education Authority in its own geographical area in the South-East of England.

This paper describes our initial steps towards developing a model of how blind people comprehend tactile graphics. In the first half of the paper we set out the aims of the model, and then consider other key issues such as the nature and scope of the model, the information it must incorporate and the outcomes it should provide. In the second half of the paper we present our ideas for the model itself, outlining the four facets that make it up - perceptual processing, cognitive skills, knowledge and cognitive development Throughout the paper we raise questions for open debate and invite feedback on our ideas.

This paper summarises the reading ability data collected from 476 children with low vision using the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA). The project aimed to generate standard reading ages for pupils with low vision using the NARA reading test. This would enable children's reading to be assessed against their partially sighted peers as well as their fully sighted peers. Standardised reading ages were generated using a linear regression technique to smooth the data. The data shows that the average reading ages for accuracy, comprehension and speed for the sample are generally below their chronological age when the comparison is made with their fully sighted peers. Guidelines for using the NARA with low vision students are presented.

The use of hands and fingers when reading braille shows many individual differences, leading research workers to investigate why this is so, and which factors would lead to successful reading at an economic rate. A brief description of major differences between visual and tactual reading is followed by early research findings. A major breakthrough in beginning to understand the sense of touch by Gibson led to an increased interest in touch perception as it applies to braille reading. Microanalysis at 1/100 seconds by Millar gave information concerning beginning and slow readers, an answer to the debate on which hand is best for braille, and the spatial and verbal functions of the two hands in braille reading. The final section suggests applications of these findings in the learning situation.

Reflections upon a new RNIB publication on the work of six visually impaired artists, upon a BBC radio documentary programme on the relationship between sound and colour, and upon a visit to the Hayward Gallery to see an exhibition of Paul Klee's paintings. The paper sets out the writer's own aesthetic responses to visual works of art, and presents an argument that the visual arts should have a much higher profile in the education of visually impaired children.

Betty Hirsch is revered throughout Germany for her pioneer work in getting blind people into employment; yet in the country of her second home she is hardly known. The article is a summary of a doctoral thesis by Christine Pluhar, "Betty Hirsch: the road of a blind woman", published in 1989. The quotations are from Betty Hirsch's reminiscences, written towards the end of her life. The article, which is slightly amended and translated by Hans Cohn, first appeared in HORUS 3/99, the organ of the Deutsche Verband Blinde und Sehbehinderte in Studium und Beruf, to whom we are grateful for permission to reprint.