Vision and Orientation and Mobility Consultation for Children with Severe Multiple Disabilities

Vision consultants who work with professionals and parents of children with severe multiple impairments perform a professional role that is changing and challenging. Educational planning is unique, since many children with different levels of disabilities must be served in a variety of individual settings. This article discusses the role of orientation and mobility specialists and teacher-consultants for children who have visual impairments and severe multiple disabilities. Examples of programming contributions of both types of vision consultant are given.

Outreach Low Vision Services to Children with Deaf-Blindness

This article presents an overview of a model project for delivering comprehensive vision care and educational support services to children who are deaf-blind. It describes the characteristics of the 170 children served by the project—including the conditions that caused their deaf-blindness, other medical conditions, and visual conditions—and the intervention strategies that were recommended.

The Effects of Training on a Young Child with Cortical Visual Impairment: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study investigated the effects of the components of visual environmental management, visual skills training, and visually dependent task training on the performance of visual behaviors of a young child with cortical visual impairment. These components were implemented by the mother during daily routines.

Hidden visual capabilities in mentally retarded subjects diagnosed as deaf-blind

The visual acuity of twelve multi-handicapped, mentally retarded subjects, diagnosed as deaf-blind, was measured on two occasions with the Teller Acuity Cards (TAC). Eight subjects scored above the criterion for legally blind and the results of six of these indicated various degrees of poor to approaching-normal eyesight. To evaluate high-level vision four subjects were tested with the Fagan Test, assessing visual recognition memory for faces subsequent to familiarization with the preferential looking technique. The results for three subjects showed evidence for perceptual recognition. It is concluded that TAC combined with the Fagan Test may detect perceptual capacities unnoticed by clinical observation.