The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is a UK charity offering information, support and advice to almost two million people in the UK with sight loss.
The subject of blindness and education has included evolving approaches and public perceptions of how best to address the special needs of blind students. 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.
Dorton House, formerly known as Wildernesse, is a Grade II listed Georgian mansion house in Seal, Kent, near Sevenoaks; until 2013 it was used as the headquarters for the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB) and as housing for the blind and partially sighted children who attended its school.
New College Worcester is an independent boarding and day school for students, aged 11–19, who are blind or partially sighted. It caters for around 80 students. It is located in the city of Worcester, England. A 2012 Ofsted inspection classed the school with a Grade 2 (Good). The school has also been featured in the Good Schools Guide.
Exhall Grange School is a special school located in Ash Green just outside Coventry in Warwickshire, England. The school meets the needs of children and young people age from 2 to 19 years with physical disability, visual impairment, complex medical needs, and social, communication and interaction difficulties.
A sighted child who is reading at a basic level should be able to understand common words and answer simple questions about the information presented. They should also have enough fluency to get through the material in a timely manner. Over the course of a child's education, these foundations are built on to teach higher levels of math, science, and comprehension skills. Children who are blind not only have the education disadvantage of not being able to see: they also miss out on the very fundamental parts of early and advanced education if not provided with the necessary tools.
Blind artists are people who are physically unable to see normally, yet work in the visual arts. This seeming contradiction is overcome when one understands that only around 10% of all people with blindness can see absolutely nothing at all. As such most blind people can in fact perceive some level of light and form, and it is by applying this limited vision that many blind artists create intelligible art. Also, a blind person may once have been fully sighted and yet simply lost part of their vision through injury or illness. Blind artists are able to offer insight into the study of blindness and the ways in which art can be perceived by the blind, in order to better improve art education for the visually impaired.
"Blind Young Things" is a 2007 British documentary about students at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. The film was shown on Channel 4 as part of the Cutting Edge documentary strand, and aired on 30 April 2007. The film won a Royal Television Society award for Channel Four and the Cutting Edge team in 2008.
British Blind Sport (BBS) is a British charity that makes sport and recreational activities accessible to people who are visually impaired. The charity enables blind and partially sighted people to experience the same sporting opportunities as sighted people. Since its establishment in 1976, BBS has become a voice for visually impaired people in the world of sport and leisure, both in the United Kingdom and on an international level. It also leads in the UK with sight classification for elite and paralympic athletes. Its headquarters are in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Linden Lodge School for the Blind is a specialist sensory and physical college located in Wimbledon, South London, England. It educates visually impaired children aged between two and nineteen, including those who are multi-disabled visually impaired.
Henshaws Society for Blind People, by Oldham businessman Thomas Henshaw, is a specialist charity providing support, advice and training to anyone affected by sight loss and other disabilities.
George Harold Marshall OBE was a British schoolteacher, head master, author, academic and campaigner, internationally recognised for his work in the fields of education and assistive technology for children with visual disabilities. Marshall started Exhall Grange, Britain's first school to cater specifically for partially sighted children in 1951, becoming the third and was its head master from 1953 until he retired in 1981, making him to date the longest-serving person to hold that position. He also founded The Partially Sighted Society.
Blind in Business is a British charity that helps blind and partially sighted students into employment following graduation by providing a free training and employment service. The charity offers technical help and training courses for schoolchildren with a visual impairment, while also supporting graduates and potential employers with training and technical help. It was founded in 1992 by three visually impaired graduates in order to help others in the same situation. The founders – Neil Heslop, a business planning manager with Northern Telecom who had recently experienced sight loss, Simon Meredith, a blind solicitor with Slaughter and May and Richard Hanson, a partially sighted solicitor with Cameron Markby Hewitt – were surprised to discover as many as 80 percent of people with a visual impairment were unemployed at that time, with very few in work able to pursue a career. Blind in Business was established as a charitable trust with the backing of the Royal National Institute for the Blind and with several high-profile supporters serving as its trustees, including Bank of England associate director Pen Kent, Standard Chartered chairman Rodney Galpin and Conservative MP Emma Nicholson. The organisation's head offices are based in London, but Blind in Business operates on a United Kingdom wide basis.
The Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB) is a consortium of specialized schools in Canada and the United States whose major goal is improving the quality of services to children who are blind and visually impaired.
Sight Scotland is a Scottish Charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The charity provides care, education and employment for people of all ages who are blind or partially sighted. Sight Scotland provides the following services: Royal Blind School, Forward Vision, Braeside House, Jenny's Well, Scottish Braille Press and Kidscene. Sight Scotland’s sister charity is Sight Scotland Veterans.
Tiffany Brar is an Indian community service worker who became blind as an infant due to oxygen toxicity. Brar is the founder of the Jyothirgamaya Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches life skills to blind people of all ages. She is a trainer, a campaigner for disability awareness and an advocates for an inclusive society.
Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) joined with the Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB) on 1 January 2017. This created one charity across England & Wales. The charity aim is to ensure blind and partially sighted children, from 0–25 years old, grow up with the skills they need to live a full, happy life.
The Blind Persons Act 1920 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since repealed. It provided a pension allowance for blind persons aged between 50 and 70, directed local authorities to make provision for the welfare of blind people and regulated charities in the sector. The act was passed in response to pressure from the National League of the Blind (NLB) who claimed many of their members were living in poverty. The NLB carried out a series of strikes and protests including the 5–25 April 1920 blind march. The Blind Persons Act was first debated on 26 April and received royal assent on 16 August. The pensions provisions were superseded and repealed by the Old Age Pensions Act 1936 and the remainder of the act by the National Assistance Act 1948, it remains in force in Ireland. The act was the first disability-specific legislation to be passed anywhere in the world.
