I was thinking of making a blind Criamon magus and I was wondering what blindness would do to his use of books (I did a search for "blind magus" but it was unhelpful). The RAW say he cannot read. I assume this means he also cannot write, so without an assistant to read to him and transcribe his notes, what would be the mechanical effects on his lab totals and study totals?
If he has such an assistant, I assume the assistant would need Artes Liberales, Latin, and Magic Theory to be helpful, but this wouuld also has some effect on his lab abilities.
Also, would Intellego spells with Target: Vision be able to get around this disability? I also thought about an Intellego effect with target Touch that would allow him to read and write (actually, this is starting to look like the coolest tool for him, maybe in a device, InHe, right?).
I assume his Pater did not correct his blindness because Criamon are wierd and he thought it would lead him to some sort of epiphany.
I would have said the study total with books is nothing without an assistant, and no penalty if he had an assistant.
Another way he can deal with things is by getting a familiar to be his eyes for him.
I don't believe so because the description of the target says the spell provides information through the sense of sight, and it's your magus's sense of sight that is not working.
That could work; I would think Intellego Imaginem (get an image of the object you touch) would be the most versatile. If the effect were R: Touch and T: Individual, you could see one thing at a time as long as you could physically touch it.
I agree, investing this into a device (with unlimited uses per day!) seems like a good way to go.
You could do CrIm at R:Personal, Target:Touch and learn to read with his fingers like Braille. The magic could not decipher the meaning of the words for him, so he would still have to learn to read (Artes Liberales) using this method.
Very interesting approach. MuIm could probably change the visual species into tactile ones.
You can´t be a Hermetic Magus if you are not able to overcome this problem somehow IIRC.
So the flaw is probatly somewhat limited.
Sorry I got it wrong.
Your SG can allow it, but your essential nature is then blind.
Which means you can´t change it by Magic and so.....
(I strongly suggest to get another Idea, such things tend to kill characters quickly).
It can't be permanently changed (serf's parma, except by creo ritual).
Ahh, I see more people are getting into the blind rage! 
I have been quite busy and had precious little time to participate on the forum of late, but as some of you know I have been dabling with a blind magus for some months now.
I agree with several of the thoughts put forward in the thread. That a blind magus cannot use Target:Vision spells, that he can learn to read by alternative means (such as with a Target:Touch spell) but that this involves considerable training and that this is to be understood in the character's Abilities (Artes Liberales foremost) - meaning that if some miracle granted the character sight, he would not be able to read by it, and that a temorarily blinded character (by PeCo for example) could not read by his fingers by a spell alone - it requires practice.
The blindness being caused by a flaw I do not think it can be fixed magically - temporarily or with permanent creo healing - whether this was a conscious choice of the pater or because it is his essential nature and thus unchangeable is a question of how the character is constructed.
My character - a blind Guernici advocate - will not be entirely blind, but he has certain flaws/virtues that is based on his sight, but these supernatural qualities are exactly that and not normal sight. Which I think is both very reasonable and interesting.
I have also been working with different Im spells to 'translate' the species of a letter into a species he can detect - it is hard and can be challenging, but it also leads to some interesting debates on what writing and books are.
I have also found a lot of ideas from changing several Target: Sense spells to address other senses than Vision.
Finally there is the very real challenge, also addressed in another recent thread, of how a blind magus can target and cast spells. It is somewhat ambigious in the desciption in the RAW. And moreso, besides Eyes of the Bat what spells can be used to navigate and get a feel for your surroundings? Just as one example a player from my troupe is presently blind from Milky Eyes and just to manage toading back to his Sanctum, he grabbed a torch and negotiated a deal with it using Words of the Flickering Flame and it somewhat managed to guide him a bit.
It is very interesting to see a discussion resurface that I've rattled a couple of times and I look forward to see more inputs here.
If taken as a Flaw it is part of Essential Nature and beyond the power of Hermetic Magic.
Using Muto effects to continually negate the Flaw takes away any game mechanic value gained by taking the flaw.
(just ignoring considerations of Warping for the moment)
This should probably be taken as a Flaw (page 52).
If you make it a Story Flaw , the Blindness being imposed as a learning experience ,
the ST and yourself need to work out the parameters.
Mentem magic can place memories in your mind.
If you spend XP on lanuages in conjunction with this effect ,
you should be able to read and write (with the use of spells).
If you have a Seeing-Eye Companion , they can read texts for you.
An invested device would then allow them to place their memories of the page read in your mind.
Covenants has a spell that allows speech to be translated into writing (page 97).
a Seeing-Eye Companion
Hmmm now that is a interesting Idea for a Companion.
I'd say not even temporarily. When you turn someone into an animal, he's still affected by Corpus spells. You may be changing his shape, but not his essential nature, which is to be a man.
From page 79 :
Page 132 :
Well, I am not trying to munchkin, but at the same time I think it would be an interesting charater, but there must be a reasonable way to make a viable, blind, mage. I have to be able to use books, reading and writing. I'm not really thinking about being able to see, but until I have a familiar or a seeing eye companion, I need to be able to use a lab and read books.
I figure my master would have found some practical way around it. I think the InHe(An) or InIm Target: Touch is a good way to go.
No-one is suggesting that you are being a munchkin. 
So far there is the published spell that allows speech to be turned into writing.
You have the advantage that Mentem magic allows visual knowledge to be placed in your memory.
You can use In spells to apply other senses , so that you can read by Touch (probably).
So far we have a few difficulties in translating text into sound.
With doing lab texts maybe you have to develop the equivalent of Braille.
That is , if you are not relying on outside senses.
My earlier suggestion was to see what arrangements a Master could make to teach a Blind Apprentice.
For practical purposes , someone your own age was probably partnered with you.
I don't see too may ways around having a Companion during Apprenticeship.
They learn the same languages as yourself as well as Magic Theory.
With Profession (Scribe) they will always be a useful Covenant member.
I certainly agree! Which is also why I have that blind magi in the mold that I look to once in a while. And I encourage you to keep posting your thoughts and ideas - I will do the same when I get time to continue on my own project - on how to make a blind magus viable.
I am still strugling with a couple of concepts of writing and magic, and how writing magically could be made into something perceptible to a blind magus. I have posted a spell in the "level 10-15 spells" thread some weeks back that uses Target: Touch to get braille-like reading. But I would still like to make up other magical ways to read. Letters and writing is only symbols, and as such have no sentience, so it puts a limit on what is possible.
Suggestion: Have your shield grog learn latin and artes liberales. (Giving him the custos virus should allow for it, with warrior for the combat skills he'll need).
Personally I would prefer him to spend his time improving his skills with the sword and most definately the shield. And then have someone else be your reader. On the other hand I can envision some interesting scenes with such a grog.
Tower shield with Latin text on Magic Theory on the back... Or maybe parma magica;)