INFORMATION NETWORKING APPROACH TOWARD PROBLEM-SOLVING FOR PEOPLE WITH VISION IMPAIRMENTS IN JAPAN ((I. Kobayashi, K. Oda, Y. Nakano, T. Nakamura, A. Odajima, H. Katoh, E. Tanaka, J. Ohba, H. Kawashima)) Iwate Prefectural University; Tokyo Woman's Christian University; Keio University; Nippon Lighthouse; National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled; Keizan Gakuen; Kyorin University; Yokohama Rehabilitation Center; JSPS Research Fellow

The purpose of the research is to examine the effectiveness of the information networking approach related with rehabilitation for people with vision impairments in Japan. We implemented and have managed a mailing list for 2 years and a web-site for a year on the Internet. The former is named JARVI-ML ("Japanese Association of Rehabilitation for the Visually Impaired" mailing list) in which over 500 users are able to discuss on the rehabilitation for the VI. The latter is titled VIRN (Vision Impairments' Resource Network) that shows detailed information on the people with vision impairments and rehabilitation services for them. We discuss the successful cases and outcomes which are considered to be specific to this approach. Future modifications will be also discussed.