Education 

According to the State reported data to the Office of Special Education Programs, 

26,070 students age 6 21 received vision services under IDEA during the 1997 

1998 school year (U.S. Department of  Education, 1999). 

Among students who have disabilities, students with sensory impairments are the 

most likely to graduate from secondary school with 73% of those with visual 

impairments doing so (based on data from the 1993 1994 school year (Kaye, 

1997). 

World Wide Estimates 

An estimated 1.4 million children (age 14 and under) in the world are classified as 

blind, defined as a corrected visual acuity in the better eye of less than 3/60 or a 

corresponding visual field loss in the better eye with best possible correction 

(

Thylefors, Negrel

, Pararajasegaram, & Dadzie, 1995). 

World wide, vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of childhood blindness, 

responsible for an estimated 70% of the 500,000 children who become blind each 

year (Thylefors, Negrel, Pararajasegaram, & Dadzie, 1995). 

NURSING HOME  RESIDENTS

According to studies using clinical measures to examine the prevalence of vision 

impairment among nursing home residents, estimates of vision impairment range 

from 21% to 52% (

Morse, O Connell, Joseph, & Finkelstein, 1988

; Marx

, Feldman, 

Werner, & Cohen Mansfield, 1994

; 

Horowitz, Balistreri,  Stuen, & Fangmeier, 1995)

. 

Based on findings from the 1997 National Nursing Home Survey, 27% of nursing 

home residents age 65 and older (N=396,700) have a vision impairment (Gabrel, 

2000). 

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