RESOLUTION 3-03
WHEREAS, visual impairments are the third
most prevalent factor in limiting the activities of individuals,
AND
WHEREAS, the prevalence of visual impairments
of those aged 65 and over is eight times the rate for those under
65, and 50% of all visually-impaired persons in the United States
are over the age of 65, AND
WHEREAS, 70-80% of individuals over age
65 currently classified as legally blind can be helped to perform
daily living functions by low vision or vision rehabilitation
services, AND
WHEREAS, financial resources are often
a key factor in receiving such assistance, AND
WHEREAS, under current law, vision rehabilitation
services and aids for the blind are not covered by Medicare or
Medicaid, THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Blinded Veterans Association
support coverage under Medicare and Medicaid programs of vision
aids for visually impaired persons eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
RESOLUTION 4-03
WHEREAS, federal funding for stipends
and fellowships for students in personnel training programs to
be teachers of the visually handicapped, orientation and mobility
instructors, rehabilitation teachers, and counselors for the blind
have been reduced each year since 1976, AND
WHEREAS, the reduction of funding has
caused many professional preparation programs to reduce faculty
positions, close many programs, and frustrate development of high
caliber personnel, AND
WHEREAS, these reductions in funds have
forced the programs to reduce the number of students accepted,
and the reduction in stipends has made it difficult to recruit
applicants for study in numbers equal to program capacity,
AND
WHEREAS, the incidence of blindness and
visual impairment is expected to dramatically increase over the
next fifteen years while the number of qualified graduates continues
to decrease, AND
WHEREAS, the shortage of qualified professionals
in work with blind persons has in some instances caused a shift
to service provision by persons with general education who have
no knowledge of the unique needs of blind persons, AND
WHEREAS, the only certain means of assuring
stipends and fellowships for students to alleviate the shortage
is through categorical funding, THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Blinded Veterans Association,
in convention assembled in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on this
30th day of August 2003, urge the U.S. Congress to enact
legislation to fund categorical programs for professional preparation
of education and rehabilitation personnel serving people who are
severely visually impaired and blind.
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