History of Blindness/Visual Impairment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a nutritional program on the nutritional knowledge of children and adolescents with visual impairments. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the scores of the experimental and control groups and that age and vision had no effect on the acquisition of nutritional knowledge.

Summary Background Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World Health Assembly Global Action Plan (WHA GAP) target of a 25% global reduction from 2010 to 2019 in avoidable vision impairment, defined as cataract and undercorrected refractive error. Methods We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate prevalence (with 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness (<3/60 or less than 10° visual field around central fixation) by cause, age, region, and year. Because of data sparsity at...

Introduction Children who are deafblind have unique educational needs, especially when it comes to developing a foundation for recreation. This foundation includes a well-rounded physical education program. Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of adults who are deafblind as they recall their involvement in physical education and transition planning relating to recreation. Methods A panel of experts validated a questionnaire related to participation in physical education, the Individual Education Program (IEP), and transition meetings. Individuals who are deafblind were interviewed at the Seabeck Deafblind Retreat and at the International Deafblind Expo in Orlando, Florida. Data were analyzed by demographics, frequency counts, and qualitative responses to the open-ended questions. Results The study had three major findings: (1) Most participants were involved in their IEP meetings, yet the physical education teacher was not included in these meetings and t...

盲人通常被認為是經濟弱勢且行動上較多障礙，因而活動能力與範圍較為有限。然而從19世紀末開始，臺灣的盲人因為西洋傳教士的派遣而往來於中國與臺灣之間。日本殖民統治時期，由於基督教鼓勵積極接受西式教育，因此開始有臺灣盲人到日本唸書和中國盲人到臺灣唸書。20世紀上半日本內地許多明眼人加入針灸按摩工作，造成當地盲人失去養活自己的能力。由於當時殖民地臺灣只有盲人可以到學校學習鍼灸與按摩，一般人不容易取得執照許可，而傳統抓龍又受到禁止與取締，因此吸引許多日本人來到臺灣工作，也鼓勵臺灣盲人加入按摩這個臺灣的新興行業。這些跨國或島內移動，與傳統社會中盲人從事走唱或算命的移動方式與目的有明顯不同。

People with visual impairment are often considered economically disadvantaged and immobile, and their range of activities, consequently, limited. In fact, the blind of Taiwan moved to and from China for establishing schools for the blind from the latter part of 19th century under the auspices of Western Christian missionaries. During the Japanese colonial period, Taiwanese blind travelled to study in Japan, and some Chinese blind came to Taiwan for study, again under the encouragement and assistance of missionaries. Colonial employment policy is another important factor in the mobility of the blind. Since the mid-19th century, many people with normal vision began working in massage and acupuncture in Japan, and thus the blind started to lose their livelihood. Meanwhile, in Taiwan only the blind could learn massage and acupuncture, in schools for the blind. Due to the licensing advantages granted the blind and the banning of traditional Taiwanese massage in colonial Taiwan, many Japanese blind relocated to Taiwan to find work opportunities during the first half of the 20th century.

This article presents a pilot study conducted in Barcelona with blind and visually-impaired people. The aim was to analyze the use and efficacy of tactile maps produced by means of 3D printing. For this purpose, structured interviews were used, along with direct observation, the creation of cognitive maps and tasks with prototypes. The aim has been to examine the instrumental and communicative value of these products in terms of interpreting, memorizing and understanding a certain urban route, comparing this with experience in situ, focusing on the difficulties faced by the visually disabled when visiting new places. Findings show the utility of this type of technique in aiding visually disabled users to memorize routes. As a limitation, this study shows that tactile maps are not wholly efficient since they require verbal support, which makes it hard for them to be used autonomously.

The low-incidence disability of visual impairment has led to many challenges in the field of education. The present study compared school related issues of adolescents with a visual impairment and their parents to adolescents who do not have a visual impairment and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of students with a visual impairment and their parents to determine the level of satisfaction of the education the students are receiving. A sample of n = 180 parents and 10th grade students were used to answer the questions regarding various factors of education. The predicted outcome will be that overall parents are satisfied with their child's education but will have negative feelings regarding the quality of education. It is also predicted that the students with a visual impairment will have similar feelings regarding education.

The main object of this dissertation is the study of the performances of "visual disability", "blindness", "low vision" and “seeing”, through social interactions.  Its main objective is to describe and to analyze these performances as the use of the nomination categories, distinctive signs and qualifying attributes.  Furthermore, I propose to present the processes of embodiment of these representations and its importance for the constitution of the actors’ "self". The theoretical and methodological assumptions rely on aspects of Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective and Bourdieu’s theory of meaning. The data were developed through participant observation at specialized institutes.

Este artículo pretende acercar al lector la figura del músico ciego Gabriel Abreu Castaño, inventor de un sistema musicográfico en puntos de relieve semejante al de Louis Braille aunque con mayor posibilidad de combinaciones. Dicho sistema, único y original en nuestro país, sirvió para enseñar la música a muchas generaciones de personas ciegas y perduró más de cien años desde su invención.

資本主義生產模式和生物醫學詮釋，是影響西方現代身心障礙者社會地位
的兩個主要因素。資本主義生產方式將身心障礙者排除在經濟活動之外，而特殊教育和社會福利則造成身心障礙的社會隔離。生物醫學讓異常身體擺脫神祕色彩，但也使得身心障礙成為醫學管轄與矯治的對象。日本統治時期挪用歐美的現代主義和東方主義，「折射」到殖民地社會而形成了新的「殖民現代性」（colonial modernity）。臺灣的盲人在這種殖民現代化過程中產生什麼樣的變化？本文利用官方統計與檔案、教會史料、媒體報導、以及口述訪談等的分析與討論，希望能對殖民現代性與身心障礙的關係有更進一步的瞭解。
On one hand, studies on disability have commonly viewed the emergence of the disabled as a distinct population. Not only were the disabled being marginalized and socially segregated under special education and social welfare, they were also excluded from economic activities under the capitalist mode of production in the rising tide of
industrialization. On the other hand, biomedical science maintained the traditional views of disability, subjecting the disabled to medical control and correction/treatment. Colonial modernity characterized Japanese governance in Taiwan, which was a combination of imperialism and colonialism with Western medicine. With reference to archival sources, government legislation, and oral histories, this study explored the relationship between disability and colonial modernity to shed light on what actually happened to the blind in Japanese colonial Taiwan.

Blindness. The Perception of a (Dis)ability in Early Modern Italy. People with visual
impairment were a permanent and active presence in Italy from the end of the 13th century. In that period, they started creating their own confraternities then recognised by local governments and the ecclesiastical authorities. As licensed beggars, they used to go around the city reciting or singing orations in churches, shops and private houses. During the 16th and 17th centuries, some of them with special linguistic, mnemonic and musical skills succeeded in living outside the confraternities to become authors, editors, musicians and booksellers. It seems that every city had at least one blind man who would entertain passers-by in public spaces in that period. Their performances were often combined with selling or offering small ephemeral publications. This essay constitutes the first preliminary research on this topic in the Italian context and it aims to describe how blind people lived in early modern Italy as documented in the archives of the various confraternities, as testified in their own works, and as represented by sighted people in iconographic and literary sources.

This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh?”. It has been prepared for the Disability Inclusive Development programme (which works on access to education, jobs, healthcare, and reduced stigma and discrimination for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania), to better understand the current context, including COVID-19, and available evidence in Bangladesh. It will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion in Bangladesh, especially in relation to stigma, employment, education, health, and humanitarian issues.

Bu araştırmanın genel amacı, okul öncesi dönemdeki bir az gören çocuğun işlevsel görme becerilerinden izleme becerilerinin gelişiminde İşlevsel Görme Aktivite Programı’nın (İGAP İzleme) etkililiğini belirlemektir. Araştırma amacına göre, araştırmanın bağımsız değişkenini “İGAP (İzleme)”, bağımlı değişkenini ise “katılımcı az gören çocuğun izleme becerilerini sergilemedeki performans düzeyi” oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada, bağımsız değişken bir katılımcı çocuğa uygulanarak programın etkililiği değerlendirilirken, nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden “örnek olay çalışması” kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın katılımcısını, 2014-2015 eğitim-öğretim yılında Ankara ilinde bulunan Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı’na bağlı Göreneller Görme Engelliler İlkokulu’na devam eden az gören tanısı almış 5 yaşındaki bir kız çocuğu oluşturmaktadır.

Purpose: Special education for the blind has existed for more than 130 years in Taiwan, but little is known about its early development, and some mistakes have been passed on constantly. The purpose of this article is to explore and clarify the reading systems used by blind people in Taiwan in the late 19th century and the evolutionary process of the systems. Data/Methods: The materials used in this study were mainly historical archives and relevant books kept by Christian churches and libraries in the UK and in Taiwan. Through the analysis and comparison of these data, this study will tell us what kind of reading systems for the blind have been used in Taiwan in the late 19th century and the reasons for adopting them. Results/Findings: According to the textbooks for the blind kept in the special collection room of the University of Glasgow in the UK and the historical archives room of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, it can be known that at least two reading systems, Moon type and Braille type, were used by blind people in Taiwan early on. However, according to historical records, blind people might have also used Alston type, which is similar to the Roman alphabet, before these two types were used. The evolution from reading systems created with lines such as Alston type and Moon type to the dotted Braille type has often been regarded as inevitable progress. However, the choice of reading system for the blind requires consideration of many different factors, rather than merely considering learning efficiency or production cost. William Campbell took into account the varying needs of blind people at different ages; hence, he decided to make use of both dots and lines. As for William Murray, he adopted Braille for blind children and later connected dots into lines in order to teach sighted illiterates. Finally, Braille, which is based on the Roman alphabet, triumphed as the mainstream reading system due to the consideration of the variety of Chinese dialects and the history of missionary work. Conclusions/Implications: Research in disability studies has often argued that early special education was developed from the perspective of the able-bodied, rather than from the needs of students with disabilities. Not until the rise of awareness of disability rights did Braille and sign language begin to be accepted by schools for the blind and the deaf. Nonetheless, in practice, many factors are involved in choosing reading systems for the blind, and the decision is usually a product of simultaneously considering people both with and without disabilities.

The present work intends to redirect and reposition several questions related to the birth of schools conceived for the blind, which happened simultaneously in several locations of the modern western world. This very same event may also by related with the global tendency for the school to become an institutional process of taxonomical classification and establishment of a self-control economy over the citizens being taught and socially captured, as well as with the discourses of desire of those same citizens, concerning their own integration in a space of individual power determination and development. 
By working with documents from three different case studies, coming from diverse political, geographical and social situations (the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the United Kingdom and the Istituto per I Poveri Ciechi in Milan, I was able to find patterns in diversity. This empiric enrichment led me, on the footsteps of Deleuze, Derrida and Foucault, to rethink the attainability of body normalization through the normation of pedagogic and social discourses.
Likewise, my question ponders the identification of common possibilities between different movements of institutional teaching, oriented for bodies with diversified sensorial input perception, paving parallel paths towards a same citizenship model. At the same time, it also awakes me to the leading of those bodies onto a provocative desire to be equal, turning each person into a participant of both a personal disciplinary web and also a labyrinth of indetermination, as powerful as self-knowledge exclusion itself.

Our paper addresses the ‘middle-blind’ status of the man from Bethsaida whom, according to Mk 8.22–26, Jesus heals in two phases. Drawing on observations from modern philosophical psychology and from ancient Greek and Jewish perspectives on vision, we argue that the two healing touches of Jesus are distinct in kind: the first restores the optical function of the eye, and the second enables cognitive synthesis of form. This reading better conforms to the narrative theme of ‘seeing but not perceiving’ than traditional interpretations, and provides the theological impetus for what has otherwise been considered a discomfiting account of Jesus’ inefficiency.

A literary, historical and philosophical exploration of blindness, the possibilities of sensory substitution, and the perennial fascination with what the blind ‘see’

The “man born blind restored to light” was one of two foundational myths of the Enlightenment, according to Foucault. With ophthalmic surgery in its infancy, the fascination with blindness and what the blind ‘see’ once their vision is restored remained largely hypothetical. Was being blind, as Descartes once remarked, like ‘seeing with the hands’? Did evidence from early ophthalmic surgery resolve debates about the relationship between vision and touch in the newly sighted? Has the standard representation of blind figures in literature been modified by recent autobiographical accounts of blind and vision impaired writers and poets?

As this book shows, much interest in the philosophy and psychology of blindness was prompted by the so-called ‘Molyneux Question’ which Irish scientist Molyneux asked of English philosopher Locke in 1688. The question concerns ‘sensory substitution’, the translation between vision and touch, which would effect practical outcomes for the blind, including the development of Braille, the first school for the blind in Paris, and even present day Tactile-Visual Sensory Substitution (TVSS) technologies. Through an unfolding historical, philosophical, and literary narrative that encompasses Locke, Molyneux, and Berkeley in Britain, and Diderot, Voltaire, and Buffon in France, this book explores how the Molyneux Question and its aftermath has influenced attitudes towards blindness by the sighted, and technologies for the blind and vision impaired, to this day.

The blind flutist Friedrich Ludwig Dülon (1769–1826) toured northern Europe from the early 1780s to the first years of the nineteenth century, winning applause as a virtuoso and composer. His travels took him throughout Germany and to London and St. Petersburg, and brought him into contact with some of the age's leading composers, including C. P. E. Bach. This article traces Dülon's career, describes several of his concerts (suggesting the possibility that his appearance in Vienna in early 1791, in a concert that also featured two singers from Emanuel Schikaneder's opera company, inspired the character of Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte), surveys his compositional output (with a list of works), and tries to account for the deeply felt emotions that his performances aroused.

The accessibility of bank websites has been a great challenge for people with visual disabilities, especially in developing countries. Egypt is considered a good example for such countries with a population over than 98 million. The low level of staff expertise in dealing with visually disabled clients makes it harder for them. Thus, the research at hand addresses the main challenges that face people with visual disabilities, and the fact that they are mostly prevented from having independent bank accounts; which highly threatens their security. Literature was extensively reviewed to determine the key dimensions that affect the digital banking accessibility, and identify the mediating and moderating factors. A theoretical framework was accordingly developed and proposed. A structured questionnaire is adopted and adapted to survey people with visual disabilities. Focus groups are also conducted to understand their perceptions, and semi-structured interviews are conducted to get a deep insight into decision makers' perception both in the banking sector and the governmental entity. Data collected was statistical and interpretive. The study also conducts an experiment in order to assess the recommended digital banking system. Research findings together with the literature review enabled a set of recommendations that can act as a clear guide to governmental representatives and decision makers at banks.

Hiring decisions can be risky. How much can employers save by better understanding the motivations and objectives of each applicant?  How much time and expertise should be invested in getting to know each applicant? Will such efforts raise the return on investment?  What are the shortcomings and deficits of the criteria to evaluate, compare and rank applicants?  How do they need to get changed to reflect the shift in the relative order of job skills between employees when the composition of the team (total of all employees) changes by hiring, firing or replacing?  A job description combines tasks and steps to a random set of job responsibilities.  But could there be better ways to bundle tasks together and to look for the most qualified applicant for this particular arbitrarily defined task bundle?  Could the employer benefit from regrouping all small tasks, which a company must perform, by changing which and how many small job tasks will be bundled together in different job descriptions?  And if so, how can reassigning each little tasks from different jobs to the most suitable employee (task-centered approach) instead of looking for the most qualified applicant for a particular job (job-centered approach) help in improving productivity and profitability?  How and why will the new task-centered approach help to increase the workforce diversity more than the job-centered approach?  How can reassigning tasks help disabled and handicapped lacking essential job functions to get hired anyways?  How can employers benefit from not only looking for the most qualified applicant for any particular job (i.e. arbitrarily bundle of tasks and steps) Why does the task-centered based hiring decision benefit employees, employees, applicants and disabled job-seekers more than job-centered based hiring decisions?  What are the benefits to seek the best employee for each task (task-centered) instead of the most qualified applicant for a particular job?  How can employers benefit from a paradigm shift replacing the job-centered with the task-centered hiring perspective?  How can the multi-dimensional effects, which different combinations of employees (i.e. teams) on the overall productivity and profitability be measured?  How much welfare and unemployment benefits could be saved if employers were aware of the additional benefits when making task or employee based hiring decisions instead of exclusively looking for the most qualified applicant?  How can reassigning job-tasks to different employees help applicants to become the most qualified job-seeker despite lacking essential job functions?  How could employers be convinced that they'd benefit most from reassigning tasks from different jobs to the employee most qualified for a particular task instead of only looking for the best applicant for a particular job consisting of an arbitrary bundle of tasks?

Als populäres Sujet innerhalb der Künste markiert Blindheit keinen Gegensatz, sondern eine spezifische Ausprägung visueller Wahrnehmung. Vor dem Hintergrund der von den Visual Culture Studies, der Kunst-, Theater-und Kulturwissenschaft vorangetriebenen Beschäftigung mit Formen und Praktiken visueller Wahrnehmung, Sichtbarkeit und Repräsentation widmet sich Paradox Blindheit der grundsätzlichen Verschränkung von Konzepten des Sehens und der Blindheit. Der Band rückt mit dem Ziel, Bedeutungen und Funktionen von Blindheit in den Künsten näher zu bestimmen, eine Auswahl neuerer Arbeiten aus der Literatur, der Fotografie, dem Theater und der szenischen Installationskunst in den Fokus. Nachgewiesen wird, dass diese neueren, im Kontext des westlichen Denkens zu verortenden Auseinandersetzungen mit Blindheit keine Absage an das Paradigma der Visualität darstellen, sondern sich als produktiv für das Aushebeln und Aufbrechen verkürzter, ausgrenzender und normierender Praktiken visueller Wahrnehmung erweisen. Die Einbeziehung kulturhistorischer Deutungsmuster wie Blindheit als Strafe oder männliches Privileg ist dabei unabdingbar, dienen diese kulturellen Deutungsmuster doch bis in die Gegenwart als Matrix für vielschichtige und ambivalente Aushandlungen von Blindheit an der Schwelle zwischen konventionellen Kategorien des Sehens und Nichtsehens, des Wissens und Nichtwissens sowie des Materiellen und Immateriellen.

This study observes a particular pedagogical experience in Portugal during the mid 20th century: Centro Infantil Helen Keller. Following Freinet pedagogic techniques, part of Movimento da Escola Moderna, its main purpose was the inclusiva education of sensorially diverse children. Its magazina A Pérola, composed of alumni works with teacher's cooperation was much more than a black and Braille reading of the school daily routines. The harmony of its contents coordinated with the founding principles of the school: the inclusion of the other, the harmony of difference and the celebration of pedagogic diversity, reflect the main purpose of caring for the social, academic and professional integration of each student towards both their social productivity and the capitalization of an inclusive scholar experience in their future lives. ISBN: 978-989-8753-50-2 Pages 381-413

S'il est difficile d'appliquer sans critique les théories des "disability studies" à la période médiévale, au risque d'un anachronisme évident, les sources permettent toutefois d'envisager une histoire du handicap au Moyen Age, illustrée ici par de l'exemple de la cécité. A partir d'un recueil de miracles de Sainte-Foy de Coulommiers (XVe s.), d'un récit de miracle de saint Louis rédigé par Guillaume de Saint-Pathus (XIIIe s.) et d'archives hospitalières, l'article analyse à la fois la représentation et la place des aveugles dans la société médiévale. A partir de l'exemple du diocèse de Meaux (France, Seine-et-Marne), l'auteur tente de répondre à différentes questions : comment devenait-on aveugle et avec quelles conséquences ? Quelles étaient les solidarités et les solutions d'encadrement proposées ? Enfin quels espoirs de guérisons la religion apportait-elle et quels gestes étaient pratiqués dans cet objectif ?