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Blind Babies Foundation is Looking for You!
Blind
Babies Foundation is celebrating its 60th Anniversary in 2009 with
numerous events throughout the year. We
very much want to include all of our alumni and alumni parents in these
events. It just doesn’t seem right to
celebrate and not include the reasons for our existence – our families past and
present – in the festivities. Also, we
are really curious as to what has happened to our “babies” and their families
during the past 60 years.
We
need to hear from you if you were a BBF client, family, relative, or know where
any of our graduates and their families are presently located. Please contact Michael McFarland at BBF, 1814 Franklin St, 11th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 446-2229 x10, mcfarlandmike@blindbabies.org
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.
Click Here to Find Out Why Early Intervention is So Essential
Services
Since 1949, Blind Babies Foundation Off to a Good Start Program has served families of infants and young children with visual impairments in Northern and Central California.
"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
Why Use Our Services?
The birth of a baby marks the beginning of many challenges for a family. With a baby who is visually impaired, the challenges are more complex. The early intervention program of BBF, called Off To A Good Start, helps the entire family adjust by:
- providing parent education
- providing information -supporting the parent/child relationship
- connecting the family to resources
- attending medical visits with families
- administering visual and developmental assessments
- referral to other agencies
- supporting family advocacy skills
- giving opportunities for families to meet and to learn from one another
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 young child who is visually impaired.
Home Visits & Crisis Intervention
At
the center of our services are the home visits of our specially trained Vision Impairment Specialists. Our Vision Impairment Specialists provide crisis intervention, help
parents understand their child's vision impairment and how their child
will explore and learn about the world. Parents and children
participate in play and learn through hands-on experiences.
The Vision Impairment Specialists are trained to teach infant massage skills to caregivers, and also use many of the Active Learning techniques of Lilli Nielsen, a Danish special educator.
BBF Vision Impairment Specialists work with families to identify, value, and realize each child's strengths in order that families most effectively advocate for their needs.
Our services, delivered in partnership with parents, professionals, and all others involved in the child's life, are offered with respect and acceptance of each family's autonomy, and the uniqueness of every child.
Families Served
Through our Off to a Good
Start program, our Vision Impairment Specialists help nearly 500 children each
year in 14 Central and Northern California counties at no cost to
families. More than 30,000 individuals have benefited from these services over the past 58 years.
Resources For Families & Professionals
The Blind Babies Foundation is committed to supplementing informational resources with our own materials and publications. BBF's educational videos, fact sheets, and other resource materials are in
wide demand in the U.S. and abroad.
Medical Support
Vision Impairment Specialists help families prepare for medical appointments, accompany families to the doctor's office when needed, and take notes during the visit. The Vision Impairment Specialist will also assist a family in further understanding the doctor's findings.
Program Consultation
Many infants, toddlers and preschoolers with vision impairments attend early childhood programs. Vision Impairment Specialists consult with program staff and provide in-service training about the vision needs of the child, adaptive materials, and environmental changes that will encourage learning.
Blind Babies Foundation News
Lowenfeld-Akeson Early Years Symposium, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009
click here for more information: 2009 Lowenfeld-Akeson Early Years Symposium
Open Shutter article in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
Lisa Ellsworth of the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, has published an article about Open Shutter, the traveling photography exhibit of works by Bay Area children and youth who are blind or visually impaired. Click here for the article: Open Shutter-Arch. of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine
2nd Annual BBF Golf Invitational
The Golf Tournament was a swinging success!
Click here to see a local news clip about our star golfer, Matt Cooper, who also happens to be blind.
Matt and his foursome were the big winners at Monday's Tournament!
Matt Cooper on ABC7 News
and be sure to check out Mike Shumann's blog about Matt Cooper:
Mike Shumann Blog-Matt Cooper
Summer Newsletter/Annual Report now available
visit our Newsletters page to download the Summer Newsletter, also BBF's 2008 Annual Report.
Learn to bake Fantasia Confection's pastries and benefit BBF
Former BBF Home Counselor Evie Rote's father, Ernest Weil, ran the very popular and successful San Francisco bakery Fantasia Confections. Mr. Weil has written a fantastic pastry cookbook where he shares many of Fantasia's most popular creations with the world. Mr. Weil generously donates the 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this on-line book to different children's organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in Haifa, Israel. You can purchase this book online and designate that the proceeds be donated to Blind Babies Foundation.
click here to visit Love to Bake online and to order your copy of this treasure:
Love to Bake Pastry Cookbook Online
BBF Greeting Cards are here!
Blind Babies Foundation is proud to announce our new greeting cards; they come in a six card set and are available for a $12 donation to BBF. Each card features an image from the colorful tactile mural "Uncle Jon's Dragon".
More info here: BBF Greeting Cards-Uncle Jon's Dragon
Here are the images from three of the cards:
Babies Count National Registry
click here to learn more about BBF's involvement with the Babies Count Project:
Babies Count: National Registry of Early Childhood Visual Impairment
Fact Sheets
This collection of fact
sheets contains information on six common visual diagnoses, as well as
information on eye specialists and vision assessments. Content topics such as
"Visual and Behavioral Characteristics", "Myths", and
"Teaching Strategies" make the fact sheets useful to families,
therapists, and medical and educational professionals who work with children
with visual impairments.
Introduction
Eye Specialists
Cortical Visual Impairment
Retinopathy of Prematurity
Optic Nerve Hypoplasia
Albinism
Optic Nerve Atrophy
Retinal Diseases
Vision Assessment
Fact Sheets are
available to the public for a $15 minimum donation per set, which includes all
of the fact sheets on durable card stock paper enclosed in a portfolio folder,
along with a color anatomical chart of the eye. The fact sheets are also available
in alternative formats, including electronic format (generic text). Please e-mail
us if you are interested in requesting Fact Sheets or for more information on
our publications contact our office.
Individual fact sheets are available at no cost to families in English and Spanish.
Natural Environments Position Paper
Click here to read a monograph regarding our position on Natural Environments (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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