Blindness and education

The practice of institutionalizing the blind in asylums has a history extending back over a thousand years, but it was not until the 18th Century that authorities created schools for them where blind children, particularly those more privileged, were usually educated in such specialized settings. These institutions provided simple vocational and adaptive training, as well as grounding in academic subjects offered through alternative formats. Literature, for example, was being made available to blind students by way of embossed Roman letters.

1800s
The 1880s saw the introduction of compulsory elementary education for the blind throughout the United States. Britain followed suit in 1893, by passing the Elementary Education Act. This act ensured that blind people up to the age of 16 years were entitled to an elementary-level education as well as to vocational training.

By this time, reading codes - chiefly Braille and New York Point - had gained favor among educators; embossed letters proved difficult to learn and cumbersome to use, and so dot codes were either newly created or imported from well-established schools in Europe. (Though New York Point was widely accepted for a time, Braille has since emerged the victor in what some blindness historians have dubbed “the War of the Dots.”)

The more respected residential schools were staffed by competent teachers who kept abreast of the latest developments in educational theory. While some of their methods seem archaic by today’s standards - particularly where their vocational training options are concerned - their efforts did pave the way for the education and integration of blind students in the 20th century.

1900s
The early 1900s saw a handful of blind students enrolled in their neighbourhood schools, with special educational supports. Most still attended residential institutions, but that number dropped steadily as the years wore on - especially after the white cane was adopted into common use as a mobility tool and symbol of blindness in the 1930s.

2000s
Most blind and visually impaired students now attend their neighbourhood schools, often aided in their educational pursuits by regular teachers of academics and by a team of professionals who train them in alternative skills: Orientation and Mobility (O and M) training - instruction in independent travel - is usually taught by contractors educated in that area, as is Braille.

Blind children may also need special training in understanding spatial concepts, and in self-care, as they are often unable to learn visually and through imitation as other children do. Moreover, home economics and education dealing with anatomy are necessary for children with severe visual impairments.

Since only ten percent of those registered as legally blind have no usable vision, many students are also taught to use their remaining sight to maximum effect, so that some read print (with or without optical aids) and travel without canes.

A combination of necessary training tailored to the unique needs of each student, and solid academics, is going a long way towards producing blind and visually impaired students capable of dealing in the world independently.