Tag Archive

Technology

Changing Vision Changing Life II – Begins Sunday, September 18

08/30/2016 LightHouse Staff

Photo: Cooking Instructor Sydney Ferrario preps food with students.

Have you already received basic skills training in orientation and mobility, access technology or independent living and are committed to focus more intently in all three of these skill areas in a small group and individual learning environment? Changing Vision Changing Life may be for you. We’ve added a brand-new session to our Changing Vision Changing Life Series of small group trainings: The Changing Vision Changing Life (CVCL) II Immersion.

This motivating five-night session is designed for students who may have participated in CVCL instruction in the past and are now focused on practicing the skills they’ve learned in a more intensive and structured manner.

Note: You don’t need to have attended a previous CVCL session to attend this one. However, you need to have had some basic training in Orientation and Mobility, independent living skills and/or access technology.

This session is great for students who are currently training in all of the areas above and can benefit from multiple days of one-on-one and small group instruction.

In this session, students will work on all of the following:

Access Technology, including
Computer training (Mac or PC) – using the software you are currently learning
Smart Phone Training – Apple or Android
Tablet Training – Apple or Android
Peer Group Support – Moving Forward
Advocacy – Taking Control
Orientation and Mobility Training 1:1
Introduction to Braille
Smart Cooking for Independence
Low Vision Training – Using your Tools to Your Benefit
Physical and Recreational Exploration to Enhance Mobility

When: This session will run from Sunday, September 18 (arrival at 3:30 p.m.) through Friday, September 23 (leave at 10:30 a.m.)
Where: The session will be held in our headquarters building at 1155 Market St., 10th Floor in San Francisco. Participants will stay overnight throughout the week in our Student Residences.
Cost: There is a $1300 fee for this training but you may qualify for partial or full scholarship if you are not already working with the Department of Rehabilitation or the Veterans Administration.

We will also be offering Changing Vision Changing Life sessions in November and December, 2016:

CVCL I (for those who are very new to low vision/blindness and have not had skills instruction):
When: Monday, November 7 through Friday, November 11
Where: This session will take place at Enchanted Hills Retreat in Napa
Cost: There is a $1300 fee for this training but you may qualify for partial or full scholarship if you are not already working with the Department of Rehabilitation or the Veterans Administration.

CVCL II (for those persons who have had training and are ready for more focused instruction)
When: Monday, December 5 through Friday, December 9
Where: This session will take place at the new LightHouse Building, 1155 Market St., San Francisco, 94103. Participants will stay in our Student Residences.
Cost: There is a $1300 fee for this training but you may qualify for partial or full scholarship if you are not already working with the Department of Rehabilitation or the Veterans Administration.

To find out which session is the best fit for you please contact Debbie Bacon at dbacon@old.lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-357.

LightHouse News

LightHouse Expands to Support East Bay

08/30/2016 LightHouse Staff

Photo: The front of the Ed Roberts Campus.

With the imminent closure of the Lions Center in Oakland, the LightHouse has stepped up to bring services to those who are blind or have low vision in the East Bay. To do this we’ll be expanding the services we offer at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. We sent out a press release earlier in the month and have received the attention of major bay area outlets such as KCBS and the East Bay Times.

Listen to Holly Quan’s report which aired on KCBS on August 29, 2016.

Read the article in the East Bay Times.

LightHouse News

Youth Employment Series (YES) Workshops Now Year-Round

08/30/2016 LightHouse Staff 1 Comment

Photo: YES Academy students raise their arms in happy unison while seated in a MUNI F-Line heritage streetcar.

Beginning in September, the LightHouse Youth Program begins its new academic year with our YES Saturday Workshop Series for transition aged students ages 14 to 26 who are blind or have low vision. Students must be eligible for transitional rehabilitation services, deemed legally blind by a physician or accredited agency, and able to fulfill the training and work required by the program.

Participants in the YES Workshop Series will benefit from vocational and blindness skills training, meaningful work and volunteer opportunities, as well as career-specific mentorships with the working blind. Our goal is to help students become ready to attend institutes of higher education or move towards successfully employed. We’ll offer presentations by keynote speakers and collaborative skill-focused activities led by successful blind professionals. Students will gain invaluable wisdom that can help them grow and shape themselves into competent blind adults.

September YES Workshop: Making Lasting Impressions
When: Saturday, September 10, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: the new LightHouse Building, 1155 Market St., 10th Floor, San Francisco, 94103

Our September YES workshop will focus on teaching students how to make positive lasting impressions. Students will discuss in detail with experienced blind and low vision working mentors the best ways to become proficient at making positive first impressions and how to confidently interact with the public’s perception of blindness.

Through fun and interactive hands-on activities, students will get the chance to learn what type of body language and attire will be appropriate for the real world situations they will likely encounter as they pursue their education and their career.

Additional Scheduled Workshops for Fall

Making Advocacy Awesome!
Saturday, October 8, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Making Work Exciting
Saturday, November 12, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Is There a Cost to Attend the YES Workshops?
The cost to attend one of the LightHouse Youth Employment Series workshops is $175 per day-long workshop. In addition to the day’s activities and curriculum, students will receive a light breakfast, lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Department of Rehabilitation authorizations or other payment source must be secured before students will be eligible to participate.

If you have any questions or wish to apply, please contact Youth Services Coordinator Richie Flores at rflores@old.lighthouse-sf.orgg or 415-694-7328.

What is the LightHouse YES: Youth Employment Series?
LightHouse YES: Youth Employment Series is a practical and educational series of monthly workshops providing transition-aged youth who are blind or have low vision vital skills and practices that will help them become more successful in higher education and their chosen career path.

Topics to be discussed during these workshops include but are not limited to:

Work-based learning experiences, such as in-school or after school work experience, and internships.

Guidance toward opportunities for enrollment in a comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational program at an institution of higher education.

School-based preparatory employment experiences such as role playing, social skills development and independent living training, coordinated with any transition services provided by the school.

Instruction in self-advocacy, individual rights, self-determination skills and the informed consent process, as well as peer mentoring.

Accommodations available to college students and those entering the workforce.

Acquiring access technology skills which can be applied to real world situations.

Acquiring and using blindness skills that will enrich life and help students achieve their goals, be more confident and learn how to advocate their needs.

How to smoothly navigate through any system as a student transitioning into college from high school or from college to a career.

Developing effective cover letters, resumes and interview skills.

Learning strategies that will help students make strong and positive first impressions.

Learning how to develop, enhance and utilize one’s network and relationships with peers and mentors.

Job exploration counseling.

LightHouse News

Victor Reader Stream (VRS) 101 – A Class for Those who Already Own a New (2nd Generation) Victor Reader Stream

08/06/2016 LightHouse Staff 1 Comment

Do you own a New Generation Victor Reader Stream (VRS), but not not know how to use it? Let the LightHouse ensure that you become “victorious” in the use of this technology.

LightHouse Access Technology Trainer, Jeff Buckwalter, will facilitate a two-week intensive training course on Tuesdays and Fridays in September for students who have not yet taken a VRS class from us before.

When: Tuesdays and Fridays, September 13, 16, 20 and 23.Time: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Location: The LightHouse Building, 1155 Market St., 10th Floor, San Francisco, 94103

Cost: There is a $450.00 fee for this training but you may qualify for partial or full scholarship if you are not already working with the Department of Rehabilitation or the Veterans Administration.

If you don’t know all that the VRS can do, here are just a few things you will learn how to do in this class: access an enormous library of books and magazines in the palm of your hands; download and listen to audiobooks by your favorite authors; subscribe and listen to your favorite podcasts; listen to the latest newspapers and magazines; record critical phone numbers and calendar information with the touch of a button as well as accessing and reading text and audio files.

This class is open only to persons who currently own a New (2nd) Generation Victor Reader Stream and have not taken a VRS class from us before. If you are an active client of the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) or the Veterans Administration (VA), contact your case worker for eligibility and to sign up. If you are 55 and older living in the counties of San Francisco, Alameda or Marin, you may be eligible to take this class at no charge.

Contact Shen Kuan at 415-694-7312 or skuan@old.lighthouse-sf.org to sign up.

LightHouse News

Yes You Can – Enchanted Hills Campers Become Accessibility “Makers”

08/04/2016 LightHouse Staff

By Josh Miele, Associate Director of Technology Research and Development, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Low Vision and Blindness at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute

PHOTO: STEM session student Rose McDougald plugs wire into an Arduino board.

Not everyone gets excited about building robots, but the students who are blind or have low vision that I worked with last week at the Enchanted Hills STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Camp definitely do. While most mainstream schools offer robotics clubs, programming classes, or electronics workshops, they often don’t know how to support participation by kids with visual disabilities. This workshop was part of The Blind Arduino Project – a larger effort to teach students and teachers about accessible electronics techniques, encouraging the participation of blind students in mainstream STEM-learning opportunities.

STEM session students Sergio Ramirez, left, and Lachlan Ryan give the thumbs while working on an Arduino board.

The sessions I taught at STEM Camp introduced blind kids to building robots and other electronic devices with Arduino – an inexpensive microprocessor that makes it extremely easy to design and build powerful automated gadgets with amazing capabilities. In a hands-on workshop, the students learned non-visual techniques for identifying electronic components, tracing wires and navigating the multitude of connections on an Arduino board. The kids learned about what Arduino can do, how to wire up sensors, speakers and motors, and even how to write their own programs to control the devices. But the most important thing they learned was that blind people can make stuff with Arduino. These young blind makers are now excited to bring that knowledge to school in the fall, ready to help their teachers make electronics learning accessible.

One of the aims of the Blind Arduino Project is to design devices to solve real-world accessibility challenges. Few experiences are more empowering than recognizing a barrier, designing a solution and building it yourself. For me, the greatest pleasure of the workshop came when two STEM students approached me with an idea. They had noticed that there were no audio indicators on the camp’s archery targets. They asked, “Could we use an Arduino to make a customizable beeper so we can hear where the target is?”

As a blind scientist who has built a career on finding creative technology solutions to accessibility challenges, this question thrilled me. These kids had a problem and they had independently designed and proposed a solution. After only a few hours of experience working with Arduino they were already using it to solve their own accessibility problems. Give them a few more years of experience and who knows what problems they will be ready to attack? What could be more personally and professionally satisfying than that?

“Yes, you definitely can,” I told them. “I’ll be right here if you need help.”

Beginning in October, Josh Miele is starting a Blind Arduino Monthly Meetup (BAMM) that will convene at the new LightHouse Building.

Read more about BAMM.

https://old.lighthouse-sf.org/blog/blind-arduino-monthly-meetup-bamm/

LightHouse News

Changing Vision Changing Life II – A New Addition to Our Immersion Training

08/04/2016 LightHouse Staff

PHOTO: Cooking Instructor Sydney Ferrario preps food with students.

Are you ready to kick your skills up a notch? We’ve added a brand-new session to our Changing Vision Changing Life Series of small group trainings: The Changing Vision Changing Life (CVCL) II Immersion.

This motivating six-day overnight session is designed for students who may have participated in CVCL instruction in the past and are now focused on practicing the skills they’ve learned in a more intensive and structured manner.

This session is great for students who are currently training in all of the areas above and can benefit from multiple days of one-on-one and small group instruction.

In this session, students will work on all of the following:

Access Technology, including

Computer training (Mac or PC) – using the software you are currently learning
Smart Phone Training – Apple or Android
Tablet Training – Apple or Android

Peer Group Support – Moving Forward
Advocacy – Taking Control
Orientation and Mobility Training 1:1
Introduction to Braille
Smart Cooking for Independence
Low Vision Training – Using your Tools to Your Benefit
Physical and Recreational Exploration to Enhance Mobility

When: This session will run from Sunday, September 18 (arrival at 3:30 p.m.) through Friday, September 23 (leave at 10:30 a.m.)

Where: The session will be held in our headquarters building at 1155 Market St., 10^th Floor in San Francisco. Participants will stay overnight throughout the week in our Student Residences.

Cost: There is a $1300 fee for this training but you may qualify for partial or full scholarship if you are not already working with the Department of Rehabilitation or the Veterans Administration.

To find out if this session is the best fit for you please contact Debbie Bacon at dbacon@old.lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-357.

LightHouse News

Blind Arduino Monthly Meetup (BAMM)

08/03/2016 LightHouse Staff

Interested in joining a hands-on group of blind and sighted Arduino makers for collaborative teaching, designing and building? We are thrilled to announce the Blind Arduino Monthly Meetup (BAMM) beginning on October 8, and meeting every second Saturday of the month thereafter at the new LightHouse Building in San Francisco.

Who: Makers of any age. Children are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Where: LightHouse for the Blind, 1155 Market St., 10th Floor, San Francisco, 94103
When: Every second Saturday of the month.
The first meeting is Saturday, October 8.

Arduino is a widely popular microprocessor platform being used by makers, educators, designers, researchers, entrepreneurs and others to prototype and build robots and other powerful electromechanical devices. The Blind Arduino Project is led by Dr. Joshua Miele, and is a collaboration between the LightHouse and Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute to support blind makers who want to build things with Arduino.

Join us and be part of BAMM – the Bay Area’s regular in-person gathering of the Blind Arduino community. Spend an afternoon with us making, learning and connecting. Bring a project, a problem or just your curiosity and willingness to learn and help.

LightHouse News

LightHouse Has a New Digital Printer That Will Create the Next Generation of Tactile Maps and Signage

08/03/2016 LightHouse Staff

PHOTO: Naomi Rosenberg (Designer, Accessible Media Specialist), BJ Epstein (Project Manager, MADLab) and Julie Sadlier (Designer, Accessible Media Specialist) stand next to the new UV flatbed printer holding examples of newly printed tactile maps and signage.

The LightHouse, through MADLab, has earned a reputation for producing fabulous tactile maps of all kinds for clients as diverse as South by Southwest, where we created maps of the Austin Convention Center for blind attendees to transit systems such as the Bay Area’s BART system and the City of Calgary, Canada’s Transit system. Up until now, these maps were printed on paper with its limited shelf life. But we wanted to be able to produce durable, physically long-lasting, braille and tactile maps and ADA signage for museums, amusement parks, trailheads and more.

PHOTO: Tactile street map of LightHouse’s new location

Enter our new UV flatbed printer. It’s essentially an inkjet printer that prints melted plastic, accreting layer on top of layer, until the final, tactile image is built up. The new printer can print onto a range of materials including wood and metal.

Among the projects we’ve used it for are mid-Market tactile maps that cover the location of our new headquarters building (see photo, above). We’ve produced maps for the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando for the International Deaf Blind Exposition, we’ve created a variety of ADA signage and we’ve honored our significant donors with acrylic panels that are placed on the walls of our soaring three-level staircase.

PHOTO: A photo of one of the panels of our donor appreciation wall, with our staircase and a view of City Hall prominent in the background.

MADLab Project Manager BJ Epstein told us, “The DCS is a game changer for us, and for the blind and low vision community. Not only can we now produce accessible signage, but also mountable tactile maps. Because of the unique ability to print both visual and tactile elements in one machine, our clients will be able to provide an inclusive experience to their guests, no matter what their level of sight may be. Our expertise at designing for the blind community was developed on our paper maps. Now, we are translating that expertise to more permanent and durable media.

“These maps can be used indoors or outdoors. They are cleanable; a bonus for something that will get touched a lot. And not only are they useful, but they are beautiful objects to touch and to see. We are so excited to be able to offer this amazing product to our clients.”

LightHouse News

Now Available at Adaptations: the Newest Aftershokz Headphones model, the Trekz Titanium

08/03/2016 LightHouse Staff

The Adaptations Store is an official vendor for Aftershokz products, and to celebrate, we are showcasing several models of their Bluetooth headphones, including the just released Trekz Titanium headphones.

The Trekz Titanium Headphone is perfect for use while exercising – they’re lightweight, sweat-proof, bone conduction headphones that communicate with your device via Bluetooth.

All our Aftershokz headphones rest on your jawbone and send sound directly to your eardrum, without blocking your ears. These headphones are very popular among many different communities, including runners and commuters, but they can be particularly handy for the blind and those with low vision. Folks who navigate the streets using VoiceOver or other audio navigation tools can maintain an awareness of their surrounding environment without compromising their own personal safety.

Adaptations is carrying three styles of Aftershokz headphones: the new Trekz Titanium model ($129), the standard Bluetooth model Bluez 2 ($99.95), and the wired Sportz M3 with Microphone ($50).

To purchase these headphones by phone, call us at 415-694-7301 or take a look at them in person at our new store on the 10th floor at 1155 Market Street in San Francisco. Adaptations is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Call us at 415-694-7301 or email us at adaptations@old.lighthouse-sf.org with any questions.

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STEAM Camp

This fairly new and exciting science program at Enchanted Hills has an overarching goal of exposing students from the ages of 11-14 who are blind and visually impaired to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM). Students will take part in hands-on, accessible, and innovative activities; which includes computing, robotics, biology, and more. Students will also take home some pretty cool give-a-ways.

$60 Session Fee (free for those attending the youth session)