In addition to their restricted peripheral fields, persons with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) report significant problems seeing in low levels of illumination, which causes difficulty with night travel. Several devices have been developed to support the visual needs of persons who have night blindness. These devices include wide-angle flashlights,…

This article provides instructional strategies for the concepts and skills of crossing streets that have no stop sign or traffic signal. Such situations include crossing the main street at intersections with stop signs for the secondary street, at roundabouts or traffic circles, separate right-turn lanes, and mid-block crosswalks. In these…

Retinitis pigmentosa is a rod-cone dystrophy, commonly genetic in nature. Approximately 60-80% of those with retinitis pigmentosa inherit it by an autosomal recessive transmission (Brilliant, 1999). There have been some reported cases with no known family history. The symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa are decreased acuity, photophobia, night…

This study evaluated the ability of 40 blind adults to spatially organize large outdoor places using a verbal response survey and a near space lapboard task. The study found a high correlation between performances on the large outdoor environment with and without sighted guide tasks. The lapboard task also predicted performance in the outdoor…

This article describes methods of teaching clients with severe visual impairments to be aware of safety in crossing streets without traffic controls. It describes and evaluates a timing method for assessing the detection of vehicles and a timing method for assessing the speed and distance of vehicles. Case examples illustrate use of the methods.…

These articles present different perspectives on the eligibility of persons with visual or other disabilities to teach orientation and mobility skills to individuals with visual impairments. Arguments in favor note that they understand their clients' perspective in the learning process; commentators opposed argue that their safety has not been…

This study employed an audiometric test battery with nine blindfolded undergraduate students to explore success factors in echolocation. Echolocation performance correlated significantly with several specific auditory measures. No relationship was found between high-frequency sensitivity and echolocation performance. (Author/PB)

This article proposes an approach to teaching street crossing to students who are visually impaired that considers the risks, ambiguity, and complexity of today's intersections. Thirty or 40 years ago, street crossing was a straightforward task for travelers with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision). The…

Human beings both sense the immediate environment and navigate beyond the immediately perceptible environment to find their way (Golledge, Loomis, Klatzky, Flury, & Yang, 1991; Golledge, Klatzky, & Loomis, 1996; Blasch, Wiener, & Welsh, 1997). People who are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision) often lack the…

This survey of 25 visually impaired children aged 10-12 and their parents investigated the value the parents placed on their children's physical activity and the barriers to physical activity that the children faced. The results revealed that as vision loss increased, parents' expectations for their children's ability to be physically active…

This article, the third in a series, provides an outline of knowledge areas in blindness rehabilitation developed at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University. The outlines cover orientation and mobility, private agency administration, and public agency administration. (DB)

Tangible tools needed by the instructor of orientation and mobility techniques for people with visual impairments include cane repair tools, a tape measure, a stopwatch, labeling materials, raised-line drawing equipment, a bicycle, compass and map, mace, and evaluation tools. (DB)

This paper describes the integration of nine preschool children with blindness into a regular preschool program in Sweden. It focuses on the first introductory period; the children's strategies in orienting within the environment and exploring objects and toys; their participation in play; and their social interaction with sighted peers and…

This article describes the physiological mechanisms involved in three-dimensional depth perception and presents a variety of distance and depth cues and strategies for detecting and estimating curbs and steps for individuals with impaired vision. (Author/DB)

This collection of innovative ideas for rehabilitation of individuals with visual impairments or blindness describes procedures for making a custom desk for a low vision learner, teaching orientation and mobility to blind individuals with multiple disabilities, and teaching music notation using cuisenaire rods. The paper makes a request for…