UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1951 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Price 20 cents Washington 25, D. C. SOURCES OF AID TO VISUALLY HANDICAPPED What Some Non-Governmental Agencies Do... NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS........ Appendix 1. Reading in Classes for Partially Seeing Children.... 40 Appendix 2. Causes and Frequency of Visual Handicaps.. 41 Selected Readings. 45 IV FOR 'OR MORE THAN one hundred years, some attention has been given to the needs of visually handicapped children in the United States. This attention was first directed toward the blind, who, because of the extreme nature of their handicap, were more easily identified. It was, however, not until the early part of the twentieth century that consideration was given to children classified as the partially seeing, who outnumber the blind several times. While most blind children are enrolled today in either residential schools or Braille day-school classes, only a relatively small proportion of partially seeing children needing special school adjustments are enrolled in classes for the partially seeing. As early as 1829, the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind was incorporated. About the same time, the New York Institution for the Blind (now the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind) was incorporated, and it opened in 1832. One year later, a similar school, now known as the Overbrook School for the Blind, was established in Pennsylvania. In the years that followed, many schools for the blind were organized, and now every State makes some provision for the education of blind children either within its own State or by arrangements with another State. The first two public day-school classes for partially seeing children in the United States were opened in Boston, Mass., and in Cleveland, Ohio. Each of these cities reports such a class in the year 1913. Since that date, many school systems have included sight-saving classes as a part of their special educational programs, but the program is still far from adequate. It is evident that, although progress has been made in providing for blind and partially seeing children, educators are still faced with the challenge of extending and improving services. Much of this challenge must be met by especially trained teachers who are prepared to give children the technical assistance they need. Some of the work will, however, be done by This bulletin has been written in the hope that regular classroom teachers. it will help to meet the need for information on the broader aspects of an all-round program for visually handicapped children in school. Some of the material was prepared with the special school or class in mind, but teachers of regular classes in which one or more visually handicapped children are enrolled will be able to adapt the information given and the procedures described to meet the needs of their own pupils. It is hoped that teachers everywhere who have any responsibility for blind or partially seeing children will find in these pages practical information to meet problems of the day, as well as an incentive to seek further information through continued study. GALEN JONES, Director Division of Elementary and Secondary Schools acknowledgments ANY PERSONS have assisted in the preparation of this bulletin. MANY Special appreciation is due Dr. Robert B. Irwin, formerly Executive Director, American Foundation for the Blind, and Mrs. Winifred Hathaway, formerly Associate Director, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. They began to help in the early planning stages and both have continued to give assistance during the development of the bulletin. Parts of two sections of the bulletin were contributed by Dr. Berthold Lowenfeld, Superintendent, California School for the Blind, C. Edith Kerby, Associate for Statistics and Analysis, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and Edith Cohoe, Supervisor, Braille and Sightsaving classes, City Public Schools, Detroit. Photographs were contributed by: Dr. Merle E. Frampton, Principal, New York Institute for the Education of the Blind, New York City; Dr. Gabriel Farrell, Director, Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, Watertown, Mass.; Dr. Francis E. Lord, Director, Horace H. Rackham School of Special Education, Ypsilanti, Mich.; Edith Cohoe, Supervisor, Braille and Sight-Saving Classes, Department of Special Education, City Public Schools, Detroit, Mich.; Lillie Mae Rickman, Assistant Professor of Education and Supervising Teacher, Partially Sighted, Illinois State Normal University; Dr. Lester N. Myer, Chief, Special Education, Pennsylvania State Department of Public Instruction, Harrisburg, Pa.; and Ruth Hargitt, Director, Special Education, City Public Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio. Dora Crouter, formerly Supervisor, Education of the Visually Handicapped, State Department of Public Instruction, Salem, Oreg., has also assisted in the preparation of this manuscript. |