Vision Rehabilitation – Creating a Pathway for Independence
It is hard to believe that we have reached the mid-point of the year already! It is an exciting time at Society for the Blind as we plan our celebrations for our 70th Anniversary.
This week, we celebrate the incredible highly trained professionals at Society for the Blind who provide lifechanging vision rehabilitation training and services during Vision Rehabilitation Week, June 10-16. Almost 20 million people in the U.S. live with blindness and vision loss that creates significant challenges in everyday activities. Sadly, less than 5% of those who could benefit from these services are receiving them.
Society’s broad range of vision rehabilitation programs, training and support increases confidence, safety and independence for people we serve. They help clients increase access to medical and mental health services, improve safety and compliance with treatment and prescription medication use, and reduce isolation and depression.
This month, we also are celebrating several recent staff promotions.
Jill Guilbeau, our Braille and Communications Instructor, was promoted to Manager of our Braille Production and Training Program. A lifelong braille reader with more than nine years of experience as an instructor, as well as additional experience as a former business owner, Jill takes the helm of our newest service to provide braille materials. She will lead the way in developing our transcriber certification course prep and planning for continued growth of our braille production services. In addition to being a certified braille instructor, Jill is finishing her coursework as a certified transcriber and is creating braille curriculum and workbooks for students.
Liz Gauntt was promoted to Coordinator of our Braille Production and Training Program. She will assist Jill in the build-out of our braille services and is enrolled in the transcriber certification course. In addition to learning braille, Liz is fluent in American Sign Language.
Heather Pham was promoted to Coordinator of our CareersPLUS Youth program. For the past three years, Heather has been an instructor in the Senior IMPACT Project. Her experiences growing up with vision loss and as an instructor will serve her well as she expands our services for children and youth with vision loss.
At Society for the Blind, we take a person-centered approach to our programming to ensure each individual is receiving vision rehabilitation training together with other wraparound services that enable them to discover, develop and achieve their full potential.
Here’s to the dedicated staff at Society for the Blind who do such outstanding work!