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.