Helping Hands for the Blind
East Coast

A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization Supporting
People With Impaired Vision

Online contributions to the blind.

Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Case Study

What people with vision loss need...
I am a visually impaired individual who is currently employed as a social worker in an agency which assists people who are visually impaired. There are many wonderful technologies and trainings available to assist people who are visually impaired in maintaining active productive lives. However, given that approximately seventy percent of individuals who are visually impaired are unemployed, these trainings and technologies are often out of reach financially.

Additionally, the state funding for many of these needed services has been difficult to obtain as states grapple with a declining revenue base due to the high unemployment rate and economic crisis. Some of the training and devices individuals with vision loss request most frequently are listed below.

• A specialized low vision exam to determine which low vision devices would be most helpful to them
• Low vision devices such as eyeglasses and magnifiers which would assist them on a daily basis
• Orientation and Mobility training to assist them in learning how to utilize a long white cane and travel independently outside their homes
• Technologies which would enable them to utilize the computer more easily, in the form of screen magnification or screen reading software
• Electronic devices to assist with reading printed material, particularly a CCTV which enlarges printed material or a scanning device which reads printed material for someone with no vision
• Assistance locating employment
• Assistance locating housing, particularly housing that is designed for people with vision loss and affordable housing
• Specialized rehabilitation teaching so they can learn techniques for completing every day tasks such as cooking, cleaning, counting money, taking prescriptions putting on makeup, shaving and paying bills among many others.

      Emily B. - Chicago, IL

What do children with visual impairments and blindness need?
Qualified caring teachers who...

• Include parents and students as equal members of the educational team
• Are committed to visually impaired children of all abilities
• Are able to conduct thorough, reliable assessments (Functional Vision Evaluations and Learning Media Assessments) for students with ocular or cortical impairments; explain the findings from those evaluations to educational team members (including the student and their family); use the findings from the assessment to write a descriptive evaluation report and to identify meaningful, measurable IEP goals
• Are knowledgeable in the Expanded Core Curriculum
• Are knowledgeable and trained to teach students with ocular or cortical impairments
• Assists in the smooth transition of visually impaired or blind students to vocational or college placements
• Are able to provide instruction in the area of technology

      Beth Ramella, M.Ed.

Excerpt from O.D. Out of Darkness by Alton Allen Williams, O.D.:
...A child may see clearly at chalkboard distance (20/20) but still have symptoms such as eyestrain, headaches, fatigue, or even blurred vision while reading or working on a computer due to a focusing or eye-training problem. These problems often reduce a child's attention, comprehension, and general school performance.

Identification and treatment of vision problems affecting school performance has been the goal of optometric physicians for over 70 years. Through their efforts, optometric procedures have been developed and proven effective in diagnosing and treating learning related vision problems. These efforts are unique to the optometric profession.

Children who struggle academically should have their eyes evaluated by an opometrist (O.D.) who specializes in Vision Therapy and who may be able to bring healing to those children and their families.

      Alton Allen Williams, O.D.

As a person born with blindness...
I've been fortunate to have many opportunities provided for me to become as independent as possible. While secondary education was in a private school for Blind Children my curriculum included extensive mobility training. Successful training in mobility allowed me to negotiate life's obsticals when attending college and traveling to and from several places of employment. As a result of children today who, are born with blindness being educated by their individual school districts the time for intense travel training just isn't there. Many of the young blind folks are living in rural settings and mobility training perhaps is not suitable for such environments. With financial assistance young blind adults may receive additional mobility training in areas conducive to their everyday living circumstances. Mobility, adaptive technology, Techniques of Daily living training are essential to achieve the ultimate independence possible. Financial support provides well educated people certified in these specific areas of training for the blind.

This additional training provides a major step for blind individuals to be able to assert themselves through employment opportunities.

      Ted Crum, Alumni President