Introduction: The pilot study reported here determined the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary group rehabilitation program, Visually Impaired Elderly Persons Participating (VIPP), on psychosocial functioning. Methods: The single-group pretest-posttest pilot study included 29 persons with visual impairments (aged 55 and older) who were referred…

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States for persons aged 60 and older. Compared to individuals without disabilities, individuals with low vision demonstrate a 15% to 30% higher dependence on others to perform activities of daily living. In addition, low vision can adversely affect a person's quality of life.…

Active and passive perceptual training methods were tested with 30 macular degeneration patients to improve their residual vision. The main conclusion was that perceptual training may contribute to successful visual adjustment and that the effect of training is not limited to a particular level of visual impairment. (Author/CL)

Analysis of questionnaires completed by family members revealed that there was a marked reduction in stated problems immediately after a rehabilitation training program and over a three-and-a-half-year period. Similar benefits were noted for older family members, those receiving shortened programs, and those living with sight loss for many years.…

The Ticket to Work (TTW) program is a federally funded program meant to assist persons who receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in obtaining employment, with the ultimate goal of terminating SSA benefits and thereby providing a cost savings for the government. With its focus on employment, the TTW program would…

Demographic projections indicate that the population of the Western world is aging, and evidence suggests an increase in the incidence of conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), that produce visual impairments and result in low vision (Maberley et al., 2006). It is expected that in the United States and Canada, the annual…

This study evaluated the Columbus (Ohio) Children's Hospital vision stimulation program, involving in-home intervention with 15 visually impaired infants. Comparison with controls indicated benefits of appropriate vision stimulation in increasing the neural foundation for vision and visual-motor function in visually impaired infants. (Author/DB)

Intended for teacher educators, the document provides four presentations on the methods and effectiveness of the Braille Speed Reading Institute. A general background of the Institute by A. Ensign traces the development of the project from a request made by a teacher of the blind and partially sighted to the completion and finalization of details…