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Quick links to their description below:
| Organizations
and Support Groups |
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Vision & Vocational Services
(formerly
known as the Vision Center of Central Ohio)
((614) 294-5571
www.visioncenter.org
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The
Vision & Vocational Services recently changed it name.
Previously, it was called the Vision Center of Central Ohio. It is
a non-profit organization which has been in business since 1927. They
provide comprehensive rehabilitation services to persons with
disabilities. These
services include: adjustment to vision loss, a low vision clinic, and
employment services. Most Vision Center clients first get signed
up with either with The Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired or
the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and are then referred by those
counselors to receive services. The Vision Center is located at
1393 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43201. Feel free to call
them for more information (614-294-5571), or visit their web site at www.visioncenter.org
to read more about the variety of services offered and find out how to
receive these services. |
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Individuals who call are paired with a trained
volunteer for one-on-one support. Groups are also being formed
around the Central Ohio area for people who would prefer support groups
rather than one-on-one support. Counseling directed at family
members of blind individuals is also available. In addition to
counseling, volunteers can also provide information on services that a
lot of people might not know about. Share the Vision can help
individuals find out about services from the Franklin County Area Office
on Aging, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, transportation issues, etc. |
| Educational
Opportunities |
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The Hadley School for the Blind is a correspondence
school offering a wide variety of subjects. You or a sighted
family member can learn Braille. You can take courses to earn a
G.E.D. Or, you can just take courses in subject areas that have
always interested you just for fun. |
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For computer users who are interested in taking
courses via the Internet, a great Web site to visit is
www.accesstechnologyinstitute.com. In addition to the educational
courses offered, this site lists a wide variety of resources that might
be of interest to blind and visually impaired computer users. |
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This organization would like to help blind and
visually impaired people in the Columbus area get the most out of their
movie-going experience. They providing live audio description at a local
theater to at least one first-run movie per month. You can contact them
to be added to a calling list so that you will be informed about each
upcoming audio described event by Accessible Arts, Inc. |
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WGBH works closely with movie producers to provide
audio description for major Hollywood movie releases. If a theater is
outfitted with their MoPIX system, you will be able to enjoy the movie
soon after it is released to theaters. Once the movie is released on
video, you can buy them (at the regular retail price with no extra cost
for the audio description) directly from DVS. Also, you can rent them
from most Block Buster video stores. Many public libraries have copies
that you can also borrow. Contact DVS for more information or to request
a catalog of movies available with audio description. |
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"Dialogue" magazine is available on tape,
in Braille, and in large print. This magazine is great for general
reading as well as for finding out about a variety of resources. People
who enjoy writing poetry and fiction stories can submit items for this
magazine that is published quarterly. Either contact your NLS library or
call Blindskills, Inc. to request a trial copy. |
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“Newsreel” is a magazine on tape produced here
in Columbus. The articles are submitted from some of the subscribers,
and the magazine is assembled and sent out by the Newsreel staff. The
articles and can range from people introducing themselves, telling jokes
or reading other humorous material, starting a discussion about a topic
of interest to blind people, sharing "how to" information,
sharing recipes, etc. There are different subscription prices depending
on whether you want to read and return the magazine each month or keep
each issue. |
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Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind is a free
monthly magazine published in Braille, audio cassette (4-track),
computer diskette, or you can have it e-mailed to you each month. It
contains reprinted articles on popular topics such as health, travel,
nature, careers, etc. It also contains a few special sections that would
be of interest only to the visually impaired. This magazine is a good
general magazine for reading about all kinds of topics but is also a
good resource for the blind. |
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This service is sponsored in part by the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), but you do not have to be affiliated with
NFB to enjoy this service. NFB Newsline allows you to access over 90
newspapers nationwide. Papers such as USA Today, The New York Times, The
Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall
Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun, and many
lesser-known papers from smaller towns are all available. |
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OHIO TELEPHONE READER
(614) 274-7650
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This service is sponsored by the Central Ohio Radio
Reading Service (CORRS), they have a similar service to the NFB Newsline,
but this service is limited to a variety of Ohio newspapers. You can
also access the TV listings and the CORRS program schedule on this
service. |
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HOME READERS
(877) 814-7323
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For individuals who loved to peruse catalogs when
they had their vision and miss being able to have access to
"regular" catalogs now that they can no longer see, Home
Readers is a great resource. This is a non-profit organization with
volunteers who read from catalogs onto cassette tapes. Many of the
catalog companies have endorsed this organization to offer their
catalogs on tape are free. However, Home Readers does have to charge $2
to $4 for some of the catalogs because the companies are not yet willing
to underwrite this service. A wide variety of catalogs are available
from Home Readers including clothing catalogs, vitamin and nutritional
supplement catalogs, food and candy catalogs, pet supply catalogs, etc.
Some of the catalogs available include Lands' End, Blair Men's and Blair
Women's catalogs, Chadwick's of Boston, Avon, Radio Shack, Puritan's
Pride, Foster and Smith, Miles Kimball, Vermont Country Store, Walter
Drake, and Collector's Choice. Home Readers also offers some magazines
and cookbooks on tape. |
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PLAYBACK MARKETING
(888) 217-2312
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Playback Marketing is a unique catalog which is for
the visually impaired but does not sell products necessarily just for
the visually impaired. It is a good catalog to use when in the market
for gift giving ideas. |
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BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PRODUCTS
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There are a wide variety of catalogs that sell
products for the blind and visually impaired. The ones listed here come
in a variety of accessible formats and also sell some items of general
interest: Ann Morris Enterprises (1-800) 454-3175; Jett Enterprises
(1-800) 275-5553; and Speak to Me (1-800) 248-9565 |
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The Eyes2Eyes site covers a variety of forum
topics. It's creator wanted to develop a website that was
developed for the visually impaired which would encourage insight and
personal growth. Data posted to their sight is updated regularly. |
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Perkins Scout is a searchable database of carefully
evaluated online resources related to blindness and visual impairment.
It has been developed by the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts.
By linking to the main Perkins Scout page at http://www.perkins.org/scout,
you can search all of the topics for which the folks at Perkins have
compiled in their resource base. |
Accessible Arts Inc.
P.O. Box 21514
Columbus, Ohio 43221-0514
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