The central idea of this book is that blindness itself results in no particular social arrangement as a cultural pattern. People are socialized to expect ideas about appropriate behavior for blind people and these vary from culture to culture. The descriptions of blindness in several different cultures are the authors’ firsthand observations as outsiders visiting different cultures interviewing individuals, as well as extensive reviewing of written sources. The text describes different perspectives regarding blindness and the social arrangements created for and by blind people. The viewpoints of blind people themselves receive prominent attention in the book. The text is critical in its perspective. Its purpose is to analyze patterns of domination and subordination as they take various forms in different cultures, including physical condition. Major discussions include: Why study rehabilitation and blindness from a cross-cultural perspective; Cultural perspectives on blindness; Producing new images about blindness; Blindness in the United States - From isolation to full inclusion; Blindness is Africa; Blind people in the Middle Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China; Spain’s unique Organizacion Nacional de Ciegos Espanoles; and the Changing culture of blindness around the world. The book strives to contribute to the social sciences and the study of behavior that is considered deviant or different. It also seeks to stimulate interest in cross-national and cross-cultural studies of blindness, and contributes to the development of a broader and richer understanding about blindness for those who provide education, rehabilitation, and employment services. Finally, the book strives to aid blind people who are reflective about their own situation and who are working to make it better.

The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Sociology will serve as a resource for social researchers interested in how cognitive sociology can contribute to research within their substantive areas of focus, and for faculty and graduate students interested in cognitive sociology's main contributions and the central debates within the field. In particular, the volume includes a broad range of cognitive sociological perspectives as the classical sociological and newer interdisciplinary approaches to cognition are often covered separately by scholars.

In this examination of the social interactions of children with visual impairments, theory and research are combined to explore how these children can be helped to succeed socially. Innovative practical strategies are provided for educators, researchers, and families on how to assist children in the development of social skills. Qualitative ethnographic approaches demonstrate how classroom teachers can work effectively with individual children and present valuable insights about children's interactions.

Discusses how cultural, social, and religious factors play an important role in the way an individual perceives and copes with a visual impairment, and how it can affect their self-esteem and social relationships.

Ancient Greek images of disability permeate the Western consciousness: Homer, Teiresias, and Oedipus immediately come to mind. But The Staff of Oedipus looks at disability in the ancient world through the lens of disability studies, and reveals that our interpretations of disability in the ancient world are often skewed. These false assumptions in turn lend weight to modern-day discriminatory attitudes toward disability. Martha L. Rose considers a range of disabilities and the narratives surrounding them. She examines not only ancient literature, but also papyrus, skeletal material, inscriptions, sculpture, and painting, and draws upon modern work, including autobiographies of people with disabilities, medical research, and theoretical work in disability studies. Her study uncovers the realities of daily life for people with disabilities in ancient Greece and challenges the translation of the term adunatos (unable) as "disabled," with all its modern associations.

This book is a case study which narrates the history of the National Organization of the Spanish Blind (ONCE), established in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Contrary to other affluent countries where most blind people live on welfare benefits, the Spanish blind enjoy full employment. Furthermore, the average income of the Spanish blind is higher than that of the sighted. Why is this so? Why the blind, and not the deaf mute, or any other group of disabled people? This book shows that ONCE answers these questions. The book explains ONCE'S origins, the shifting strategies that the organization has pursued to adapt to an ever-changing environment, its original goals and the way they have mutated and been interpreted, its conflicting relationship with an authoritarian regime, its struggle to find its place in a democratic regime, and its relations with other groups of disabled people. A historical narrative, the book lies at the intersection between disability and organization studies, history and sociology. It will be of interest to all scholars of disability studies, the sociology of work, the history of medicine and contemporary Spanish history.

This is the first book to study adult and child art students actually participating in courses designed with their needs in mind in universities and schools for the blind. In doing so, it uniquely delves into the topic of the culture of education and society and its affects on an understanding of blindness and the visual arts. Furthermore, through an analysis of individual and group behaviour, the book also introduces a new cultural model for studying blindness and disability, investigates the social influences on the nature of blindness and the treatment of people who are blind, and examines the influences that have affected the self belief of blind students and the way they create art. There are a number of books on the education of people who are blind or deaf. However, these are largely descriptive or based on experimental rather than observational or social research. Furthermore, books that have analysed blindness and the arts only analyse tactile perception in the education of students who are blind, not social and cultural factors. In addition, although there have been many books and articles analysing research on the perception of aesthetics and blindness, there are only two, one first published in the 1950s and now long out of print (Lowenfeld V & Brittain WL, 1987), and the other published in 2003 (Axel E & Levent N Eds., 2003) that consider the practice of this subject in depth. In particular, there have been no books solely addressing the culture of arts education by non-visual means. This book represents a unique study of the theory of blindness and the arts. In its first section it analyses traditional models of blindness and disability, finding that the history of disability is more a reflection of changes in society towards its scientific study and classification. This book then presents a unique social psychological study of arts students, both children and adults, in situ, their understanding and practice of the arts, particularly the visual arts, and their reaction to the attitudes of their teachers, past and present. In researching the material for the book, the book's author has collaborated with internationally renown charities in the area of blindness, galleries, exhibitions and art, such as Art Education for the Blind, New York and BlindArt, London, leading to interest from museum and gallery professionals in his work. University courses and practising teachers can also benefit from this book. In particular, there are few resources which directly relate to studies of teaching practise in undergraduate and postgraduate courses specialising in the education of students with physical disabilities, or students studying for undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees in subjects such as Disability Studies, Sociology, Social and Applied Psychology, and Fine Art and Design.

"Dispels the myths regarding culturally diverse learners and provides concrete strategies that any teacher can easily implement. The book contains current research from the most reputable sources in the field and is a must-read for every teacher."-Akina Luckett-Canty, Special Education TeacherBrighton Middle School, Birmingham, AL"This text addresses the literacy needs of learners who have been 'left behind.'"-Ursula Thomas-Fair, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood EducationUniversity of West GeorgiaGive students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds the literacy skills to succeed! All students bring unique cultural and language experiences to their learning. Offering perspectives from experts in diversity and literacy, this clearly organized, comprehensive resource illustrates how teachers can improve reading achievement for students from diverse backgrounds by combining research-supported best practices with culturally responsive instruction.Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction connects students' backgrounds, interests, and experiences to the standards-based curriculum. Teachers will find effective practices to help plan, implement, manage, and evaluate literacy instruction for students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This book provides:A range of interventions that support five critical areas of reading instruction-phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehensionLearning materials that take advantage of multicultural literature, themes, and topicsGuidelines for helping students connect language and literacy tasks to their own cultural knowledge and experiencesMake a significant difference in all your students' reading success with effective, culturally responsive teaching practices!

This book will provide school personnel with functional information and the necessary academic tools to manage the instructional needs of children with auditory disorders – either peripheral hearing loss or auditory processing disorders. Treatment strategies to help mitigate the detrimental effects of hearing disorders in the classroom are explored, including the classroom conditions and barriers that impact children. The book emphasizes the responsibility of educational personnel to recognize and identify the presence of an auditory deficit. Signature topics include: (1) classroom acoustics and the negative impact of noise, reverberation, and the signal to noise ratio; (2) language development and hearing loss with an overview of the general trajectory of speech and language development; (3) the importance of a team approach for aiding deaf and hard of hearing children, including independent function, work, community contributions and support groups; (4) auditory processing disorders and the assessment of APD, intervention within environmental/classroom modifications, teacher modifications, direct therapeutic intervention and neuroauditory training; (5) the psychology of hearing loss in children and adolescents plus early detection of emotional issues that co-exists and impacts school performance; and (6) educational law including an overview of Section 504, the IDEA, and the implementation of either the 504 Plan or the IEP, and the knowledge that all children with disabilities are entitled to a FAPE. The strategies and discussions in this comprehensive resource will be of special interest to speech language pathologists, educational audiologists, teachers for children with hearing loss, and early intervention service providers and social workers.