ABSTRACT
Interest in this topic began in the 1970s. The limited studies conducted during this period continued into the mid-1980s, when sporadic discussion then emphasised the need to correctly identify students and alert teachers and parents to the possibility of a student being both gifted and having visual impairment. Some programmes were established in the US, generally in universities or medical research centres. The need for appropriate programmes to meet the specific needs of gifted students with visual impairment was raised again in the 1990s. Few educational programmes appear to continue, despite their established need. Recent books about giftedness now have chapters on gifted children with disabilities, but despite this, there are few published studies about reliable and valid instruments to identify these children and their cognitive and behavioural characteristics.
