Natalie Carter Barraga

Natalie Carter Barraga (October 10, 1915 – December 29, 2014) was an American educator and researcher who studied visual impairment, recognized for contributions to the education of children with low vision.

Early life Barraga was born on October 10, 1915, in Troy, Texas. In college she initially studied home economics and child development, receiving her bachelor's in 1938 from the North Texas State Teacher's College, University of North Texas. She then earned a Master's in education from University of Texas in Austin, followed by an EdD from George Peabody College for Teachers in special education for the visually impaired. Initially teaching at public schools, she taught for two years at the New York Institute for the Blind, before eventually becoming a teacher at the Texas School for the Blind after her daughter, Karen, who was visually impaired, enrolled there. This led to widespread interest in low vision children within the blindness field, and the development of 'visual efficiency' training for those children, encouraging them to use what sight they had, using magnifying devices to increase their usable vision, and teaching them to read print in addition to (or instead of) braille. She developed a visual efficiency scale and many training resources specifically for children with low vision, and published multiple articles and books on the subject, which have been utilized in teaching visually impaired children and adolescents across the world.

Honors and awards

A partial list of awards given to Dr. Barraga include: