This page identifies resources specific to persons who are blind or visually impaired in Georgia. If you know of other Georgia resources specific to blindness and visual impairments, please contact me so I can add them to this page.
Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI)
The Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta is Georgia's largest facility providing rehabilitation services for the blind and visually impaired. They offer:
a low vision clinics for persons ages 5 and older
New View adult rehabilitation services program
STARS program which provides elementary through high school students with skills and self-confidence to live with vision loss.
BEGIN program for children birth through 5
Support groups
InfoLink
Georgia Academy for the Blind
Georgia Academy for the Blind (GAB) provides educational services to students and families throughout Georgia including day and residential programs on campus and outreach services. Students are placed at the GAB through the IEP process. They serve as an extension of the continuum of services offered through local school districts across the state and are available to serve the students who require additional supports and services in order to meet their IEP goals.
Georgia Association of Blind Athletes
The Georgia Association of Blind athletes is a non profit program that provides and advocates sports, recreation and social opportunities for blind and visually impaired. The main program offered is goalball. Recreational and/or competitive opportunities are available to youth and adult members.
Georgia Association of Education & Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired (GaAER)
Visit the GaAER site for newsletters and information about upcoming conferences. Join AER, contribute to the field of visual impairments and help make our Georgia chapter strong!
Georgia Blind Sports Association
Georgia Blind Sports Association's mission is to help visually impaired people all over Georgia discover their athletic potential, from recreational fun to the Paralympics.
Georgia Department of Education
Information about visual impairment services in Georgia can be found on the Department of Education's website along with downloads specific to serving students who are visually impaired and contact information for Georgia's Education Program Specialist.
Georgia Instructional Material Center (GIMC)
The GIMC is a program of the Georgia Department of Education, Division for Special Education. GIMC provides, or assists in the acquisition of, textbooks and core instructional materials in accessible formats for special education students who are blind or have a physical, or specified print related disability, and are served in Georgia's public schools. GIMC registers legally blind students, in both public and private schools for quota funds through the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) .
Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Service (GLASS)
Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS) provides Georgia residents with print impairments access to a free national library program that lends talking books on cassettes, digital cartridges or in braille and lends magazines on digital cartridge or in braille. Once a person is registered with GLASS, they will also be able to access the BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. All of Georgia's public libraries are affiliated with one of the nine member facilities of the GLASS network.
Georgia PINES
Georgia PINES is funded by the Department of Education and provides early intervention services in natural environments with an emphasis on training families of newly diagnosed children ages birth to five years with vision and/or hearing loss using a coaching model and parent education.
Georgia Radio Reading Service (GaRRS)
The Georgia Radio Reading Service (GaRRS), the State’s only radio reading service. GaRRS’ mission is to improve the quality of life for every Georgian who is blind, visually-impaired or has difficulty with the printed word. They deliver approximately 200 different radio shows each month including: cover-to-cover readings of magazines, newspapers, and books; population-specific programming (for seniors, veterans and Hispanics/Latinos); and public service announcements about community; and support programs and activities.
Georgia Sensory Assistance Project
The Georgia Sensory Assistance Project, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, offers technical assistance to school personnel, service personnel and families of children and youth with deaf-blindness from birth through 21. It is housed on the campus of the University of Georgia. GSAP conducts an annual deaf-blind census which is reported to the U.S. Department of Education.
Georgia Vision Educators Statewide Training (GVEST)
GVEST provides an opportunity for Georgia's educators who serve students with visual impairments to have specialized training and to share effective practices and strategies specific to the needs of students with visual impairments. The annual GVEST conference takes place at the Georgia Academy of the Blind and provides workshops led by experts in the field of blindness.
Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency
The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Division provides a variety of individual services to persons with disabilities in preparation for their employment in the competitive labor market and to employers seeking to retain valuable employees with disabilities or hire qualified individuals for their workforce.
iCanConnect/GA
iCanConnect is a national deaf-blind equipment distribution program whose goal is to ensure that every person with a combined hearing and vision loss has access to modern telecommunication tools and that training necessary to use them, granting every individual the opportunity to interact with the world as an involved, contributing member of society.
Smokey Powell Center for Assistive Technology
The Smokey Powell Center is funded through the James E. "Smokey" Powell Foundation and located at the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon, GA. It offers the following services at no charge to Georgia local school districts:
technology evaluations
low vision clinics
equipment loans
outreach services
Complete and submit the referral packet to make a referral and schedule an appointment.
Visually Impaired Foundation of Georgia, Inc. (vifGA)
vifGA is a nonprofit organization that serves as a central resource for visually impaired Georgians. The organization includes:
Funding for products and services for the visually impaired
Low vision clinics throughout the state of Georgia
Mobility, Independent Living Services, and Computer Training
Free Membership
Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable templates, handbooks and handouts on the Printables page. Simply click on the Log In | Register link in the navigation bar. If you haven't joined yet, you will be prompted to create a password.
TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
$50.00
Written specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), this book consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level.
The core activities listed in the Activity section can be adapted to each thematic unit. These include:
Object Characteristic Activities
Quantity & Number Concepts
Time Concept Activities
Environment & Job Awareness Activities
Listening Skills Activities
Reading Foundation Activities
Reading Fluency Activities
Braille Basics Activities
Writing Activities
Tactual Efficiency Activities
Developing Skillful Hands Activities
Visual Efficiency Activities
Optical Device Instruction Activities
Recipe Activities
In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.
Unique Concepts within the Units include:
Self Advocacy Activities (e.g. advocating for safe classroom, presenting to class on visual impairment, requesting help and more)
Social Skills Activities (e.g. Being bullied or teased, giving and receiving compliments, body language, "I" messages when upset and more)
Recreation & Leisure Activities (e.g. exploring interest areas, getting involved in clubs and sports, playing games, and more)
O&M Support Activities (e.g. Suggestions for community based experiences, dog guide information, locations in the school, bioptics, ride sharing, traffic signs, and more)
Independent Living Skill Activities (e.g. chores, being responsible, using tools, recipe suggestions, hygiene, staying healthy, labeling foods and products, and more)
Sensory Efficiency Activities (e.g. unique sensory experiences related to the unit, unique optical device activities, and more)
Compensatory Activities (e.g. organizing materials, study habits, and many unique concepts related to the unit)
Career & Vocational Activities (e.g. job awareness, completing applications, job task suggestions, and more)
Although the intended audience of this resource is fellow Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, special education teachers may find these activities beneficial to the students in their classrooms as the activities are multisensory and include life skills and concepts needed by all students. This resource, however, is not intended to take the place of a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI). Readers are advised to consult their own TVI’s regarding instruction in the ECC and the unique visual needs of the student’s served in their programs.
Note: This curriculum is a digital pdf download. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number.
Each download is intended for single instructor use per copyright. Thank you for helping me preserve the content and not distributing copies to third parties.
Product details
Digital pdf download: 364 pages (11 pt font)
Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
Visual Efficiency & Magnifier Fluency Grab & Go ECC Supplements
$20.00
This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a supplement to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.
Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
Digital pdf download: 210 pages
Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
