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Adult Services

Adult Services are designed to enable blind and visually impaired individuals to regain independent living skills, allowing them to maintain meaningful roles in their family, community, work and/or school.

All classes are available in English, Spanish and Creole. Instruction and training at work and in the home is also provided to ensure practical skill use in everyday situations.

Clients meet with a counselor or social worker and are orientated within a small group class to discuss available classes and services. We emphasize using one’s own life experiences to regain skills using remaining vision and other senses. Social workers act as advocates and information providers and teach the skill of self-advocacy.
Contact a social worker

Orientation and Mobility

O&M services allow the individual gain better spatial awareness and travel independence. Our instructors provide thorough training for:

• Cane skills

• Moving safely within the home and stores

• Effective use of public transportation i.e.: Busses, metro-rail

Proper training from our university-trained, certified instructors builds confidence and independence for an individual maneuvering in a sighted-world.
For more information, please contact Orientation and Mobility

Personal Management

Personal management instruction aims for individuals of all ages to remain independent. Personal Management offers:

• Home skills, kitchen safety, basic meal preparation, all taught from on-site facilities including working washers and dryers, stove-top ranges, ovens, and cooking utensils
• Grocery shopping, organization of one’s home, personal affairs, and other tasks that must often be re-learned are taught by our personal management instructors
• Make-up and grooming, personal hygiene, clothing selection and other similar skills restore a sense of personal style and identity
• Money identification, telephone dialing, phone/internet shopping and banking, and the use of talking clocks and calculators return control over finances and daily schedules
• Writing guides, check writing templates, Braille and various labeling techniques provide options for handling the many reading and writing tasks associated with a busy schedule. Use of the Talking Books program introduces one avenue of enjoying leisure time.

For more information, please contact Sarah Clark.

Computer and Technology Training

• Growing advances in technology allow an visually impaired individual to lead a more independent life, therefore it is necessary to have the proper training to learn, and in many cases re-learn the skills needed to utilize what is available.
• Miami Lighthouse has computers adapted to provide either enlarged images or speech output of the information on the screen, and can be used for basic word-processing and e-mail. We are also equipped with computers using JAWS (Java Application with Sound) software, a program that reads allowed virtually every keystroke on the computer, allowing the user to listen to emails and other documents, and navigate computer programs as a sighted person might.
• Small talking note-takers make it possible to remember appointments, and get quick access to telephone numbers and personal information.
• Learning to use computers with speech or large print access offers blind and visually impaired individuals an avenue for which further employment and education are made possible

Other special equipment such as Braille note-takers and laptop devices also enable greater flexibility on a daily working basis. Similar to a PDA, these devices allow the user web access, access to a calendar, contacts, notes, documents and much more. Learning to use this puts the world literally at your fingertips.

For more information please contact Bill Rivera.

Employment Opportunities

Miami Lighthouse helps analyze a blind or visually impaired individual’s skills and interests to assist in the search for employment. Increasing one’s personal independence allows for greater opportunities in the work environment.

• Job placement and on-the-job assistance is given in conjunction with the Florida Division of Blind Services
• Job readiness classes, work evaluation, and assistance with job finding are still more of the services offered by DBS
• Already employed? We can help you with the job you have, if loss of vision is an issue for you.
• Are you an employer? We can help you retain the valued employee for whom loss of vision has become an issue. 

Social Group Activities

Social Group Activities offer leisure activities that also aid in perfecting one’s blindness skills. Ceramics and Arts and Crafts improve dexterity, necessary for Braille comprehension. Field trips to local parks, malls and other areas of interest, group discussions, language classes, and exercise classes are also available, and are offered free of charge.

For more information, please contact Nelba Gonzalez.

Low Vision Services

A wide array of magnifiers and other devices can assist with specific tasks. These include:

• Handheld magnifiers

• Closed-circuit television read/write systems

• Miniature spotting scopes

• Specialized lighthouse

• Text and product code scanners/readers

• Accessible cell phones

• Bold line markers

Miami Lighthouse instructors will assist in the selection of these devices to fit your needs, and provide training in their use.

Diabetes Education

Loss of vision increases the challenge of managing and understanding diabetes, a complex condition that often leads to vision loss.

Talking devices that enable independent monitoring of blood sugar levels and special insulin delivery devices can help you manage your condition. Miami Lighthouse also provides information about meal plans, exercise, and personal health care.

For more information on Adult Services, please call.
 

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