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Reviews contributions that have been and will be made by science and technology in reducing the handicaps experienced by blind and visually impaired individuals. The contributions are examined in terms of two major categories of handicap: communication and mobility.

Three approaches to the study of braille reading can be identified. They are (a) the observation of braille reading behavior, for the purpose of drawing inferences concerning the perceptual and cognitive processes upon which braille reading depends, or to discover the behavioral patterns that characterize fast and slow readers; (b) the determination of the legibility of braille characters; and (c) the demonstration of braille reading performance as a function of variables relating to the manner in which braille is displayed. Experiments exemplifying these approaches are described, and some suggestions for future research are made.

The possibilities of increasing the braille reading rate include changing the ability of braille readers, changing the way in which braille characters are displayed, and changing the braille code. The research that has been conducted to evaluate these possibilities is reviewed.

The computer can play an important role in providing the assistance needed by blind persons in order to be competitive in educational and vocational settings. Computer Services for the Blind is now attempting the development of three kinds of assistance: the ARTS system, the transcription of print to braille, and the production of tacto-graphic displays. Although the time-sharing capability of modern computers should ultimately make the provision of computer-dependent assistance economical, the initial costs of development and deployment are high. Current prospects for obtaining funds to meet developmental costs are not promising and CSB has no assurance of the continuing support it would need for the development that must precede the economic deployment of assistance.

The following article is intended to alert readers of the New Outlook to research which is intended to implement an idea originally suggested in conjunction with mobility device research for the blind at Haskins Laboratories in 1944. While the author is concentrating on the maximum transmission of information, Professor Robert Gibson at the Carnegie Institute of Technology is moving rapidly ahead with research in pain-free stimulation and special compact equipment which could be used with a mobility device, or with a reading machine for blind and deaf-blind people.

Improving the mobility of blind pedestrians will require the application of methods developed by human factors specialists. Mobility must be recognized as a complex skill, the analysis of which will provide the information that is needed for the design of mobility aids, the development of training methods, and the evaluation of both. This paper suggests some of the requirements of a method for assessing the mobility of blind pedestrians. In so far as possible, mobility should be studied in a situation that provides both experimental control and reasonable fidelity to those situations in which the mobility task is ordinarily performed. Measures should be independent of the mobility aid used by the blind pedestrian. They should be operationally defined. They should assess behaviors that lead to the realization of the terminal objective of the mobility task. Finally, measures should be included that permit valid inferences concerning the perceptual and cognitive processes upon which mobility depends, so that a more adequate theory of mobility can be developed.

This is a preliminary report of a study to learn the extent and accuracy of blind adolescents' knowledge about human sexuality and their attitudes about sexual behavior. The interviews with 18 males and three females cover sources of sex education, sex-related words, sources of advice about sexual problems, and idiosyncratic theories about masturbation, sexual inadequacy, and origins. Also described is a recently launched Human Sexuality Opinion Survey (questionnaires have been sent to 2,000 parents, teachers, houseparents, and others involved in the education of blind persons) intended to gather information about attitudes toward sex education programs for blind children in general and about the methods and content of such programs in particular.