Guest Editors:

Madeline Milian, Ed.D., Professor Emerita, University of Northern Colorado

Deadline for Submissions:

February 2027

Projected Publication Date:

November-December 2027 issue

A visual impairment is one of many human characteristics that contributes to people’s lived experiences and influences their identity. In addition, factors such as geographical location; socio-economic status, religion, knowledge of instructional or official language, immigration status, and membership in an ethnic group can also considerably affect experiences and identity. Combined, overlapping human characteristics and social factors create experiences that not only influence the way individuals define themselves, but also determine accessibility and quality of needed educational, health, or rehabilitation services. Those with visual impairments often require specialized educational, health, and rehabilitation services to optimize their academic and daily living skills and functioning. JVIB invites innovative research, descriptions of effective practices, conceptual papers, and short reports that discuss educational advancements and innovations that aim to improve outcomes and capture the unique experiences of people with visual impairments based on their overlapping identities and membership in cultural, social, religious, or ethnic groups both within and outside of the United States. Research that employs various methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, case study, and mixed methods) and international contributions are welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Instructional approaches and strategies to support second language proficiency for children and adults with visual impairments.
  • Novel approaches to improve outcomes that support early and emergent literacy and biliteracy using print or braille or both.
  • Creating learning environments that support positive interactions and cultural understanding.
  • Preparation programs that emphasize best practices to support children and adults with visual impairments who belong to marginalized communities.
  • Educational models that create and support positive practices for multilingual students and adults with visual impairments.
  • Efforts that assist in understanding perceptions of visual impairments across cultures and integration of children and adults in new cultural contexts with different views on disabilities.
  • Practices that encourage and prepare family members to navigate services and systems that provide support services for their children and adults with visual impairments.
  • Efforts to design and deliver programs that positively integrate students and adults from ethnic communities while also supporting their languages and cultures.
  • Programs that facilitate and support access to services for children and adults who are encountering educational and rehabilitation systems in new countries for the first time.
  • Examples of the use of communication technologies that facilitate access to the official or instructional language needed for schooling or other service agencies.

Papers may be submitted to the journal's Editor in Chief Robert Wall Emerson, Ph.D., Western Michigan University, at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jvib. Submitted manuscripts will undergo standard peer review. Guidelines for contributors are available from the American Foundation for the Blind: online, https://www.afb.org/news-publications/publications/jvib/authors; e-mail, jvib@afb.org.