Low vision and blindness.

A single-topic issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development provides a unique opportunity to present new information and to interest new research professionals in meeting the challenges faced by persons with a visual disability. That a single-topic issue of a VA journal is devoted to the area of low vision and blindness is appropriate. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had a long and distinguished history of leadership and research innovation in developing clinical programs and supporting new technology and research for veterans with a visual disability. By highlighting VA's past contributions in the history of services in visual impairment, we hope to create a sense of pride and accomplishment in the efforts of the Department to put veterans first. In addition, we want to provide the foundation for considerations of future research with the editorial and articles in this special issue. Prior to the early part of the twentieth century in the United States, blind persons were employed primarily in sheltered workshops. Vocational rehabilitation, or putting persons who were visually impaired in competitive employment, was first viewed as a critical need in this country for veterans when they returned from World War I. The War Risk Insurance Act of 1914 was a landmark piece of legislation that authorized vocational rehabilitation services for all veterans disabled during the war; competitive employment was the goal of vocational rehabilitation training (1). This Act was superseded in 1918 by the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act. It created a Federal Board for Vocational Education to administer vocational rehabilitation programs for both veterans and civilians.