Reading Rehabilitation for Individuals with Low Vision - Research and Practice in the Czech Republic

This book presents an emerging rehabilitation program for improving the reading abilities of individuals with low vision who undergo therapy for visual impairment. Its interdisciplinary framework for visual training through reading skills development aligns its goals with those of special education programs and features anatomical and psychological background chapters, diverse perspectives on rehabilitation, and empirical supporting data. Program details span theoretical bases, strategies and planning, pedagogical considerations, use of assistive technologies, and assessment of client progress and program efficacy. And by locating rehabilitation in the psychosocial experience of visual disability, the program can be used as a means of building confidence and motivation, contributing to improved quality of life.

Included in the coverage:

• Visual impairment and its impact on development.
• Rehabilitation of individuals with visual impairment in the Czech Republic.
• Innovative vision rehabilitation system: theoretical postulates, meanings, and objectives.
• Reading as a main objective of vision rehabilitation.
• Verification of effectiveness of the reading performance experimental rehabilitation program.

Reading Rehabilitation for Individuals with Low Vision is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians/practitioners, and graduate students in varied fields such as cognitive psychology, rehabilitation, literacy, special education, child and school psychology, visual therapy, and public health. 

Kamila Růžičková, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové. She has more than 22 years of experience with education, rehabilitation, and counseling for people with visual impairment. She is an expert teacher and lecturer at the Education Centre for Children with Visual Impairment in Hradec Králové, an instructor of Orientation and Mobility skills, and a teacher of Braille code. Previously, she worked as a professional at the Rehabilitation Center for Adults with Visual Impairment for 8 years. She is the author of the  educational program 'Increasing visual performance in reading' and a monograph, Visual Rehabilitation for Persons with Low Vision. Dr. Ruzickova works as a member of the Czech Republic Governmental Committee for the special needs of people with disabilities and the Association of Professional Counsellors for children with special education needs and their families and teachers of the Czech Republic.