A picture emerges from statistics on adults who are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision). Consider, for example, a nationally representative study (the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Survey-Disability Supplement, NHIS-D), which explored employment issues of people with disabilities in unusual depth. In terms of employment since high school, the pattern for the visually impaired students is distinctive, although it is not unique, compared to the other IDEA disability groupings. In view of the generally higher rate of high school graduation among youths who are visually impaired, the low-wage picture is perplexing. National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2) has conducted only two waves of data collection; more waves are planned through 2010. A technical term, waves invokes the image of a beach with shifting sands, an appropriate metaphor for the difficulty that we feel in taking a firm stand on the implications of these findings. The results seem at first to support the conclusion that the long-standing problem persists of high expectations but a low payoff from education for employment and earnings among youths who are blind or have low vision.

(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)