Introduction: The purpose of this study was to measure blindness professionals’ implicit attitudes about the competence of people who are blind, compare implicit attitudes of blindness professionals with those of employers in hiring positions, and examine blindness professionals’ implicit attitudes by type of profession and work tenure. Methods: The study included 322 blindness professionals and 450 employers. Participants completed a brief online survey and the Implicit Association Test–Blind/Visually Impaired, which measures implicit attitudes regarding the competence of blind people. Results: On average, blindness professionals exhibited a slight association, whereas employers exhibited a strong association, for sighted with competence and blind with incompetence. Blindness professionals and employers had large, statistically significant differences in implicit attitudes. Blindness professionals’ implicit attitudes did not differ by type of profession, but they differed slightly by work tenure. Discussion: Employers’ strong implicit bias toward sighted and competence may reflect their limited knowledge about blindness and lack of opportunities to interact with blind people. Compared to employers, blindness professionals exhibited a much smaller implicit bias, which may relate to their knowledge about blindness, exposure to successful blind people, and meaningful interactions with blind people across social contexts. Implications for practitioners: Blindness professionals may benefit from increased exposure to highly successful blind role models throughout their professional preparation programs and their careers. Blindness professionals can promote positive attitudes about blindness to the general public and to consumers and their families. During educational opportunities, they could incorporate information about how blind people perform work tasks, which has the potential to improve attitudes about the competence of blind people.

Introduction: Self-determination is a highly valued but under-researched component of the expanded core curriculum for students with visual impairments. In this study, the authors present results of a literature review on self-determination for children and youths with visual impairments (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision). Method: Self-determination studies were identified through searches of electronic databases for articles published from 2003 to 2016. Two researchers reviewed the articles and rated them in terms of quality indicators for research in special education. Results: Eleven articles, using correlational, qualitative, group experimental or quasi-experimental, and single-case research designs, met inclusion criteria for this literature review. Adherence to the quality indicators varied from 33% to 100%. Discussion: Students with visual impairments need age-appropriate opportunities to develop self-determination skills in school, home, and community settings. Short-term, focused programs and interventions may be promising methods for teaching self-determination skills; however, more research needs to be conducted to establish evidence-based practices in this area. Implications for practitioners: Practitioners can facilitate development of self-determination skills by supporting students in making decisions affecting their lives, encouraging involvement of students in the education and transition planning processes, and promoting self-advocacy.

Deaf-blindness is a low incidence, heterogeneous, and complex disability affecting approximately 9,574 infants, children, and youth in the United States (National Center on Deaf-Blindness [NCDB], 2016). The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) defined deaf-blindness as "concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness" (34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c) (2)). In addition to wide variability in their vision and hearing, many children and youth with deaf-blindness have complex medical needs, behavioral challenges, and additional disabilities (NCDB, 2016). Among all youth with disabilities, youth with deafblindness have the highest number and greatest severity of functional limitations and are one of the groups that have the most difficulty with postschool transitions (Lipscomb et al., 2017). These youth have consistently low rates of postschool employment and independent living (Petroff, 2001, 2010). Research on transition-age youth who are deaf-blind is limited, and research on predictors of employment for these youth is nonexistent, perhaps due to the low prevalence and high diversity of this population (NCDB, 2016; Petroff, 2010). To identify factors that may be associated with postschool employment for youth who are deaf-blind, we evaluated empirical research on youth with other disabilities. We used findings from two systematic reviews that identified predictors of postschool success for youth with disabilities (Mazzotti et al., 2016; Test et al., 2009) as a foundation for identifying possible predictors. We then reviewed research on employment outcomes for youth with a single sensory loss (i.e., those who are blind or visually impaired [B/VI] or deaf or hard of hearing [DHH]). Test and colleagues (2009) identified 16 evidence-based predictors of postschool employment for youth with disabilities: career awareness, community experiences, exit exam requirements/high school diploma status, inclusion in general education, interagency collaboration, occupational courses, paid work experience, parental involvement, program of study, self-determination/self-advocacy, self-care/ independent living, social skills, student support, transition program, vocational education, and work study. In another systematic review, Mazzotti and colleagues (2016) found additional evidence for most predictors established by Test 736057C DEXXX10.