Twenty five years ago, our nation made a commitment to eliminate discrimination towards those living with disabilities and adopted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The act prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Helen Keller’s birthday, Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind, Inc. and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of Florida, Inc. are teaming up to increase awareness of what it is like to live with vision or hearing impairment and to highlight what services are available in our communities.
Without Sight or Sound is a free Joint Open House hosted by the two organizations to include a mini Dining in the Dark, free hearing screenings, technology demonstrations, a chance to experience vision impairment and hearing loss through simulation, and other activities which raise awareness about services for vision impairment and hearing loss. The events are open to the public and will be held on Wednesday June 24th from 4-7 pm at the Port Richey Lighthouse, located at 8610 Galen Wilson Blvd in Port Richey and Thursday June 25th from 4-7 pm at The Arc Nature Coast, located at 6495 Mariner Blvd in Spring Hill.
“We hope our community will come out and learn what it is like to live every day with vision or hearing loss. It is challenging, but our organizations help people adapt and truly learn how to live. The ADA has helped pave some of the way, but only when everyone realizes disability does not mean in-ability, will we all be able to achieve true equality,” Says Sylvia Stinson-Perez, executive director for the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired or Blind.
There is also a Summer Camp available for children ages 5-13, who are visually impaired or blind. According to Lighthouse, this one-week day camp is designed to provide children who are visually impaired and blind living in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties with social and recreational opportunities to increase their confidence, social skills development, and introduce them to independent living and safe movement skills and techniques. The summer camp is only at the Pasco location, but the Lighthouse will provide transportation for Hernando County children.
The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind, Inc is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization that provides vision rehabilitation and adjustment to blindness services to people of all ages who have experienced vision impairment. The Lighthouse offers services such as counseling, support groups, independent living classes, orientation, and mobility training, job readiness training, Braille, computer-related assistive technology and recreation activities. The Lighthouse also has programs for children, the Little Lighthouse for Babies-Early Intervention (Age 0-5), Children’s Activities (age 5-13) and School to Work Transition (age 14-22). There is a store to help meet the needs of the visually impaired including magnifiers, specialized sunglasses, large print telephones and much more. For more information, please call one of their two locations, one in Brooksville at 6492 California St, 352-754-1132 and the other in Port Richey at 8610 Galen Wilson Blvd, 727-815-0303 or you can visit their website http://www1.lvib.org
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of Florida, Inc (DHHS), is also a nonprofit 501(c) (3) that has been serving Pasco and Hernando residents since 1983, services include American Sign Language classes, advocacy, free hearing screenings, vocational rehabilitation, and is a designated regional distribution center that provides equipment and training to Florida residents for as long as need at no charge.
DHHS assists the deaf and hard of hearing in their day to day living skills, they provide employment services to help them obtain and maintain jobs, advocacy services exist should a need arise that an individual dealing with hearing impairment needs assistance in communicating, and they also offer Signing for Everyday Living classes, which provides communication skills for those that are hard of hearing and their loved ones.
DHHS has a main location 8610 Galen Wilson Blvd in Port Richey but does have two Hernando County pick-up zones where certified hard of hearing, deaf, deaf/blind or speech impaired Florida residents with proof of residency can make an appointment to obtain the free equipment. There are no hidden fees associated with this service as every person that has a landline through a major telephone company pays 11¢ a month to fund this particular program. For more information please call 727-853-1010, TTY 727-853-1014 or visit their website at www.deafhhsfla.org
Donations are always helpful for organizations such as these to continue to provide much needed services to the community and while donations are appreciated they are not mandatory. It is requested that RSVPs be made with either of the organizations for one or both of the Without Sight or Sound events as to be able to accommodate all guests.