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About Blind Babies Foundation

Mission

When an infant or preschooler is identified as blind or visually impaired, Blind Babies Foundation provides family-centered services to support the child's optimal development and access to the world.

Program Philosophy

It is the belief of the Off to a Good Start program that parents are the most knowledgeable and important influences on the growth and development of their children.

Agency Overview

Blind Babies Foundation (BBF) has been providing critical early intervention and education services to infants and preschoolers who are blind or visually impaired for 60 years. Our family-centered services are provided in the home environment and encourage every child’s development to the fullest degree possible with careful attention to their individual abilities and needs. These intensive services can help stimulate and enhance available vision, often preventing a further decline of visual acuity or total vision loss. As soon as a visual impairment is detected, BBF is there to help families move from crisis to understanding and self-sufficiency.

Through our Off to a Good Start program, our Vision Impairment Specialists help more than 500 children each year in 14 central and northern California counties at no cost to families. BBF provides services to children under six years of age who have a visual impairment regardless of economic status, ethnicity, gender, country of origin or any other criteria. The only time BBF screens a child and decides not to provide services is when the diagnosis is that of a condition easily corrected through surgery, medication or corrective lenses. Even in these cases, our specialists often act as advisors. Taking into account all of the family members, medical professionals, caregivers and teachers we advise, train and collaborate with, we estimate that more than 4000 people benefit from our services every year.

Positive Outcomes

• Increased opportunities for visually impaired children to develop faculties and skills
• that will enable them to achieve more advanced educational goals, increased social interaction and full community participation;
• Early identification, diagnosis and treatment for specific visual impairments, which can result in considerable vision being saved that might otherwise be lost;
• Greatly reduced risk of depression and isolation for parents and family members;
• Reduced dependence on public sector health and social service agencies; and Educated parents who can replicate what we teach them and act as advocates for their child, substantially reducing future dependence on public sector resources.

Click here to download the BBF Program Brochure

"Our son has a visual impairment which put us on a hunt for some sound help and direction. We have been on a medical and emotional roller-coaster and we can wholeheartedly say that having BBF at our side has made this trying time much easier to handle." - Steve & Jody C. of Lodi, California