Blind and Low Vision
April 25th, I will be in Eureka teaching a class on independent living skills for those with vision loss. This is a one day, two hour event hosted at the Greenwood County Senior Center that will provide information on skills, tips, techniques, and show off tools that can help with daily living. The class will…
Read ArticleI am hosting low vision independent living classes in Chanute on February 21st and 28th from 1:00pm-3:00pm. The first day will focus on overall skills of living with vision loss (cooking, cleaning, health care, transportation, communication, etc.) and the second day will be more focused on tools to help with these skills. This event is…
Read ArticleIs your mom, dad or grandparent struggling with their eye sight? RCIL has a program (iKan-RCIL) for anyone 55 years or older that has a vision loss that is affecting their daily living. This service is free and offered in 32 counties. Services include: white cane training, independent living skills training (such as cooking and…
Read ArticleI will be hosting three events in July for individuals who are blind or have low vision. As I’ve posted in the past, I run RCIL’s program, iKan-RCIL, which is for anyone 55 years and older who has a vision loss that affects their daily living. I will be hosting two independent living classes in…
Read ArticleI might be aging myself here but I always remember that Reese’s commercial “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s”. This is how I feel about marking appliances to assist individuals who are blind or have low vision. As long as you get the person’s feedback and the buttons they need are marked, its…
Read ArticleDogs are great! I mean really, dogs are loveable, smart, and can be very hard workers. I wanted to refresh people on some etiquette when it comes to seeing a guide dog in public. * Do not pet, talk to or distract the guide dog while he/she is working. – People might think a guide…
Read ArticleYesterday was World Sight Day and today is White Cane Day. I feel like with both of those days this week, its a perfect time to remind everyone of RCIL’s services for those with vison loss including blindness. RCIL provides a service that we call iKan-RCIL. This service is for anyone 55 years and older…
Read ArticleI will be hosting a two-day event, for people who have vision loss, at the Riley County Senior Center on August 12th and 19th. The event will last from 1:00pm to 3:00pm both days. Come learn everything from self-care to using assistive technology to help with traveling and reading. Riley County Senior Center is located…
Read ArticleRCIL will be hosting a low vision fair at the Marion County Senior Center on July 28th starting at 12:30pm. RCIL’s Mandy Smith, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, along with Audio-Reader and Kansas Talking Books will be speaking about their free services and options for people with vison loss. Along with presentations,equipment will be presented…
Read ArticleKansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (KABVI) will be hosting with the assistance of American Counsel of the Blind (ACB) an online convention Friday, November 20th and Saturday, November 21st. This is the ACB’s annual meeting but it is also a celebration of KABVI’s 100 year anniversary. Friday’s agenda is scheduled 10:00am-5:00pm and…
Read ArticleOctober 15th is White Cane Safety Day also known as Blind Americans Equality Day. Which is a day to celebrate and raise awareness about the white cane, that people who are blind or have low vision use to help with mobility. A white cane’s purpose is to identify objects on a traveler’s route and to…
Read ArticleI get questions many times about available apps for people who have vision loss. I thought I’d write a brief description of 5 apps that have great features for people who are blind or visually impaired. LookTel Money Reader – This app uses the camera on the back of the phone/tablet and then says out…
Read ArticleRCIL’s Mandy Smith will be hosting the following events: Low vision fair April 7th at the Parsons Public Library from 1:00-3:00pm Low vision independent living classes April 23rd and 30th at the Riley County Senior Center in Manhattan from 1:00pm-3:00pm Low vision fair May 13th at the Marion Senior Center from 12:15pm-2:15pm Please look for more…
Read ArticleI’m a few days late but National Braille Day is celebrated on January 4th, which is Louis Braille’s birthday. As most know, Louis Braille created Braille at a young age after going blind from accidently poking his eye out and obtaining an infection that affected his second eye. Louis created Braille after learning a form…
Read ArticleBradford and Bryan Manning, were diagnosed with Stargardt’s (a form of macular degeneration) at a young age. They have since started a clothing company, “Two Blind Brothers” that profits help with finding a cure for blindness. Something I thought was awesome, is they have Braille incorporated in all of their clothing. Here is a clip…
Read ArticleI thought I would switch things up a bit and instead of posting about what other places were doing or events going on, I’d talk about myself. This week I celebrated 10 years at RCIL. Crazy to think how far I’ve come in those 10 years professionally and personally. The older blind program that I…
Read ArticleFebruary is Low Vision Awareness month so I’d like to share some knowledge on this topic. 1.) Low vision is a vision loss that makes it difficult to accomplish visual tasks even with the best possible correction, but with the potential for use of available vision, with or without optical or non-optical compensatory visual strategies,…
Read ArticleRCIL will be hosting two low vision fairs in March. The fairs will be on March 6th in Baxter Springs and March 7th in Garnett. Both fairs will be located at the town’s library and will be from 1:00-3:00pm. During that time Mandy Smith, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, will present on iKan-RCIL’s program and…
Read ArticleRCIL will host two independent living classes for people with vision loss in Pittsburg next month. The first class with be November 1st and will cover self-care, transportation, cooking and shopping. November 8th is the second class and reading, writing and over all assistive technology will be covered. Both classes will run 1:00pm-3:00pm and will…
Read ArticleDisclaimer: I am not speaking on behalf of anyone I am just paraphrasing a few conversations I have had with some consumers and friends with vision loss. Blindness and low vision are not that common (thank goodness). But there are still many people who have vision loss. I’ve said in a blog before unless you’ve known…
Read ArticleQ&A with Dr. Herder Flier (PDF file)
Read ArticleThough January is almost over there is still time to learn about Glaucoma. Currently over 3 million people in the United States have Glaucoma It is estimated that half of those people don’t know they have it There is no symptoms and once vision is lost it is permanent Glaucoma is the leading cause of…
Read ArticleIt’s October and the Royals are still playing baseball! I think a lot of us are happy about that! How old were you when the Royals were playing in their last Post Season game (1985)? I was 1 year old 🙂 Well, I thought since many of us are excited about baseball and football (Go…
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