Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS)
The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) is home to the Vocational Rehabilitation Services’ Blind and Deaf Program which provides specialized employment and education-related assistance to Alabamians statewide through its Blind Services, Deaf Services and OASIS (Older Alabamians System of Information and Services) programs. Services are delivered through a team of specialized professionals, partnerships with consumer organizations, local school systems, educational institutions, and state and private organizations that serve people who are deaf or blind.
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB)
AIDB is the nation’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and employment system serving individuals who are deaf, blind, deafblind, and multi-disabled, and their families. AIDB serves thousands annually through the Alabama School for the Blind, Alabama School for the Deaf, Helen Keller School of Alabama, Gentry Facility, Alabama Industries for the Blind and eight regional centers located across the state.
Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (BPH)
Our library has been serving the state’s visually impaired residents for more than a century. Initially, Alabama patrons were served out of a school in Georgia. The Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB) took over that role in 1858 when it was created in an old school building in Talladega. In 1978, The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) in Montgomery, Alabama, added an addition to its existing structure. Today, the Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (BPH) is located on the ground floor of the APLS building. In 2018, BPH observed it’s 40th year of operation as a division of APLS. BPH staff have fully adopted the motto of the National Library Service (NLS) — That All May Read!
For more than 70 years, the Lions Clubs of Alabama and partners have been saving sight through Alabama Lions Sight Conservation Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Alabama Lions Sight funds medically necessary eye care for eligible individuals and provides vision screenings for thousands of children and adults every year.
Alabama Radio Reading Service (ARRS)
Since 1978, the Alabama Reading Service (ARS) (formerly known as the Alabama Radio Reading Service) has served the heart of Alabama’s blind and print-impaired community from its home at WBHM, a member-supported service of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (AAPVI)
AAPVI is a support group for parents of children with visual impairments. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The support group has members with children who range in age from under one year through senior in high school.
For Visitors with Low to No Vision, Sensory Empowerment Program tours are offered at the Birmingham Museum of Art on the second Saturday of the month at 10am. These tours are led by specially trained volunteer docents who use verbal descriptions and three-dimensional models to help visitors discover artworks through touch. Topics change monthly and are geared towards adults with low to no vision.
The CVHC mission is to provide dental and vision services for people in financial need in Jefferson and Shelby Counties, while maintaining our clients’ dignity, respecting their cultural diversity, and strengthening the community.
The Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound (CASA) of Madison County provides care for elderly and homebound, including transportation at no cost to eye exams and other necessary medical appointments for clients who are 60 years old and older and are able to get in and out of a vehicle with minimal assistance.
Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham hosts the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama Field-of-Interest Fund that supports needs throughout the vision community. Funds are distributed through a competitive grantmaking process.
Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation
Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation (CSVR) is a non- profit community-based organization dedicated to helping those with low vision and blindness. The clinics provide professional evaluation by a Medical Doctor (M.D.) or an Optometrist (O.D.), Occupational Therapists, Ophthalmic technicians, Computer Specialists and others. It works in collaboration with state agencies, regional and national resources. Our Board of Directors includes a broad spectrum of community leaders active in improving the access to care and quality of life for those living in Southwest Alabama.
FocusFirst ensures that pre-school age children in urban and rural communities receive comprehensive vision care during their crucial formative years by conducting vision screenings in their daycare centers. High-tech screening cameras are utilized that can detect a wide range of problems in 3- and 4-year-old children to help prevent irreversible vision damage or loss.
Kid One’s goal is to transport children and expectant mothers to necessary health care services with a fleet of 21 vehicles serving 43 counties throughout Alabama.
Lakeshore Foundation Operation Night Vision
Lakeshore’s Operation Night Vision, part of Lakeshore’s Lima Foxtrot programs for injured military servicemen and women, is a five-day, four-night sports and recreation camp designed for veterans who sustained a significant eye injury or vision loss while serving our country. Night Vision is designed to expose them to a variety of activities to help them regain active, healthy and independent lives. Activities may include cycling, archery, shooting, scuba, rock climbing, judo and more. Participants also receive nutrition instruction and exercise training.
Sight Savers America (SSA) works to identify and secure eye care needs, from the first pair of eyeglasses that allow a child to succeed academically and gain more self-confidence, to extensive sight saving treatment for serious eye conditions through its Alabama Eye Care and Low Vision Programs. SSA’s Eye Care Program connects children failing a vision screening (or otherwise referred) with a local eye care professional and provides academically and developmentally crucial eye care services. This includes dilated eye exams, eyeglasses, treatment for amblyopia (which can cause permanent vision loss if left untreated), and other treatments to ensure that underserved children have early and ongoing access to eye care. SSA’s low vision program proactively identifies individuals with low vision who need, but cannot afford, high-tech vision aids to maximize their remaining vision. SSA coordinates in-depth low vision evaluation and provides the recommended vision aids conduct extensive follow-up.
Statewide Technology Access and Response System-STAR
Since its inception in 1994, STAR has been and continues to be a resource to provide Alabamians free access to information, referral services, educational programs, and publications in accessible format on extensive topics related to disability rights, laws/policies, and funding opportunities for assistive technology.
The Red Barn promotes equine assistive activities for individuals of all abilities and circumstances, especially children and including those with vision loss and blindness. Lessons are individualized and taught by certified therapeutic horseback riding instructors using horses that have been specially trained for this purpose. Over 80% of the students coming to The Red Barn live in low income families and receive a full scholarship to receive services. Children and families also have access to occupational therapy and educational classes.
Travelers Aid Birmingham: Senior Ride Program
Travelers Aid’s Senior Ride Program makes available free transportation in the Birmingham area to and from medical and health care related appointments, including eye care, for very low income elderly and adults with disabilities. Senior Ride encourages care for chronic health conditions as well as routine and preventive health care including all types of vision care.
United Ability’s LINCPoint Adult Day Program offers a variety of services to provide life enrichment activities for individuals with disabilities. Professional services can include the Vision Clinic, housed in the adult day building to meet the vision service needs of individuals with disabilities. The vision clinic, staffed by faculty and students from UAB’s School of Optometry, provides comprehensive vision exams to adults with disabilities who require services due to myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, detached retina, cataract issues and help with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology.
UAB Callahan Eye Hospital and Clinics
For more than 50 years UAB Callahan Eye Hospital has focused on delivering innovative eye care and pioneering breakthroughs in the preservation and restoration of eyesight. Recognized nationally and internationally for outstanding patient care, treatment of eye trauma, and crucial research in eye disease, it is one of the few facilities in the world entirely dedicated to advancements in ophthalmology, as well as one of the busiest eye care centers in the nation. It also is home to one of only two Level 1 Ocular Trauma Centers in the United States with a 24/7 eye emergency department.
UAB Callahan Eye Hospital Emergency Department
Located on the first floor of the UAB Callahan Eye Hospital, the UAB Eye Emergency / Trauma Department serves as a comprehensive, fully dedicated Eye Emergency / Trauma Department. UAB Callahan Eye Hospital Emergency and Eye Trauma Department provides the only 24/7 emergency department totally dedicated to eye emergencies and eye trauma in Alabama and one of only two in the nation.
UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation
The Center is an outpatient low vision rehabilitation program that uses optometry and occupational therapy to help adults and children who have difficulty completing daily activities because of vision impairment from eye diseases and conditions, or brain injury. The Center also coordinates activities of the Songs for Sight Low Vision Support Group for children and families in Alabama.
Group meetings of UAB Connections low vision support group for adults cover topics including: education regarding eye health, eye diseases, cutting edge research updates, coping strategies for adjustment, adaptive and environmental strategies for home and community settings, stress management, and tips for how to talk to your doctor and communicate with family and/or the public about your vision.
UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Long recognized as a leader in ground breaking research, innovative patient care, and comprehensive education, the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences hit a major milestone in 2018, ranking fifth in nationally ranked ophthalmology departments in the amount of funding it receives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with over $10.6 million in NIH annual funding for fiscal year 2018. This accomplishment represents the significant growth in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences’ research capacity while further enhancing our ability to recruit and retain world-class researchers, treating patients living with blinding diseases, and providing a world-class education for the next generation of ophthalmologists through its highly-competitive ophthalmology residency program.
The UAB School of Optometry is preparing its students to be the nation’s leaders in providing comprehensive, evidence-based eye care and discovering new principles of vision science. As one of the top optometry programs in the nation it was the first in the U.S. to be fully integrated into an academic health center. Since awarding its first Doctor of Optometry degree in 1973, the UAB School of Optometry has grown to include graduate degrees in vision science and three dual degree programs. Students receive clinical training at UAB Eye Care, a 34,000-square-foot teaching facility that provides personalized primary eye care, treatment for ocular diseases, low-vision rehabilitation and optical services. Optometry students at UAB provide numerous screenings and comprehensive eye exams in the clinic and across Alabama through community outreach.