ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the entitlement of disability or visual impairment to the education and some of the ways in which it can be made accessible. An entitlement curriculum has been defined as one which provides for leamer-centredness that takes into account the wishes of the individual. Entitlement applies to all just as practical access to provision must take into account the needs of the individual whatever the reasons for those individual needs. The need to widen access to learning has been increasingly recognised as an imperative in further education and training. A student with a visual impairment is entitled to access not because of that physical impairment but because she/he is a person in her/his own right. A visual impairment is not a special need nor a disability but rather constitutes the right of an individual to appropriate access.
