Visual impairment: special training of the infant and child, remediation in the older person

Help for the visually deficient person requires a precise assessment of the nature and severity of the deficit. In the: infant, early intervention aim s at helping the parents to overcome the dramatic condition to which they a re confronted and helping the child to develop spatial behaviours and socia l interactions. III the aging usually disabled individual psychological ass essment is a prerequisite for the successful management of behavioural auto nomy. A method of rehabilitation is based upon sensitivity measures and on optical aids. In the two instances much remains to be done to develop resea rch programs in a domain where multiple parameters must be taken into consi deration and to inform the population as well as patients of the necessity of making special education and rehabilitation available at the optimal tim e in order to restrict the consequences of the deficit.