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In 1997 the then new Labour Government published a Green Paper on the special educational needs on Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs. In a Paper which appeared in this Journal (McCall, 1998) the author considered the historical background to the Green Paper, summarised its proposals and discussed the changes it was likely to bring about in the Education of children with a visual impairment. In this Paper the author revisits the Green Paper and considers to what extent its aspirations have been achieved thus far.

The Government of the United Kingdom has published a Green Paper on the special educational needs of children: Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs. This Article provides historical background to the publication of the Green Paper, summarises its proposals, discusses the changes it is likely to bring about and concludes on a mildly optimistic note.

Researchers from different disciplines have attempted to investigate the way in which people who are blind conceptualize and perceive elements of the spatial environment. Most of the studies that are reported in the literature use an experimental approach based on measurements of the performance in test situations of people who are blind or people who are sighted but who are blindfolded. The findings from these studies are important and have shed light on the process of understanding spatial relations in both small- and large-scale space. However, they have sometimes produced contrasting findings. The study the authors are currently involved in diverges from other studies in this key area in that the method used is essentially qualitative and participatory in character. This article gives an example of using the child's voice to explore spatial understanding and involves a narrative account from a 13-year-old student who was blind from birth about the strategies he uses to overcome the challenges he faces in making sense of space. The results suggest that the child's voice can provide insights into spatial understanding that can be used to help triangulate the findings and understandings achieved from the experimental approaches that dominate the literature.

Using the five-stage model of skill acquisition originally proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986), this study investigates the professional development of Rehabilitation Workers (RWs) in the UK through analysis of their practice in training people with a vision impairment in the area of orientation and mobility. From interviews with RWs a clearer picture has emerged of the lack of professional development opportunities and the access to the knowledge of others required to facilitate progression from Novice to Expert in this specialized profession.

This article reports on a study of teachers in the United Kingdom who use the Moon Code to develop literacy skills through touch in children with visual impairments and additional disabilities. It explores the motives, purposes, and values that underpin the teachers' decisions to embark on and sustain instruction in literacy for these children.

This Paper reports on the initial results of an investigation of the use of the Moon code by children in schools in England and Wales. It took place in 1998 and is part of an on-going study of the use of Moon by children which commenced in 1992. The Paper presents some of the key findings and considers their implications for the implementation of the National Literacy Strategy.

In this Paper we relate contemporary theories of literacy to the population of people who are blind and who have additional learning disabilities; we argue for a more inclusive model which is appropriate for considering the literacy behaviours within this population; and we propose that, rather than debating whether literacy is an appropriate goal for this population, educators need to consider how literacy is to be defined in relation to it.

The population of blind children in the United Kingdom has been changing significantly over the last thirty years, with an increase in the number of blind children with additional handicaps. For many of these children the study of braille as a medium of communication has proved too difficult, so that in effect they are being denied access to literacy. Although it has been used for almost 150 years, mainly for the elderly blind, moon has never been formally investigated as a suitable system of communication for children. Technological changes which have made it easier to write moon have resulted in more teachers looking to this system as a possible alternative to braille for certain blind children. In this context, a study has recently begun at the University of Birmingham which seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of moon in developing the literacy of blind students with learning difficulties.

For over thirty years Birmingham University has offered training courses for teachers wishing to specialise in the education of the visually handicapped. In addition to a large national intake it has consistently attracted students from all parts of the world, with African countries very well represented. In the last three years for example, teachers from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania have attended the one-year full time course. In 1986 a tutor was appointed with special responsibility for overseas students taking this training, which leads to a qualification at Diploma or BPhil level. This article, based on interviews with past and present students, seeks to examine the background to, and the recent development of, education for visually handicapped children and young people in parts of Africa and to identify the factors which lead to successful and relevant training in courses of this nature.