This year’s Transition Summer Camp began July 12th and concludes this Sunday, July 25th with an afternoon at the theatre to see Naples Players’ production of The Wedding Singer. The camp has been comprised of various outings and activities such as pottery through Clay More Ceramics, up close encounters with wolves at Shy Wolf Sanctuary, a “Cake-Off”,…
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One of the many highlights from our children’s summer camp that concluded last week was the presentation by Andrew Kirkpatrick, Adobe’s Director of Accessibility. He posted a blog highlighting Lighthouse of Collier and its services, and our collaboration with them for the Children’s Summer Camp. Click here to read the blog
Children’s Virtual Summer Camp 2021 Is Back! The Lighthouse of Collier Children’s Camp starts today, Monday, June 14! Our summer camp offers an opportunity for children to apply skills they have practiced and learned throughout the school year. Activities address independent living skills, assistive technology, communication skills, social skills, recreation skills, career readiness and more!…
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Rick joined the Lighthouse of Collier in February 2015. Helping people who are blind or visually impaired is Rick’s passion. He knows firsthand what it is like to live with vision loss as he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at age eight. He knows how difficult it can be to get along in a sighted…
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Last week the Freedom Waters Foundation sponsored a cruise on a 93-foot yacht with twenty-five Lighthouse clients and family members. Due to COVID-19, this was the first group outing in well over a year. People were ready to get out and socialize! Old friends had time to catch up and new friendships were made. The…
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We are excited to announce that Lighthouse of Collier has established a scholarship fund to support our local community and future leaders! The scholarship grants will be awarded to Lighthouse of Collier clients who are in high school, college or graduate school. The fund will help recipients complete an undergraduate or graduate education in the…
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The program utilizes GoodFeel software to convert print music scores into Braille. To best illustrate how the program works and its benefits, please read the story below: Music has powerful effects on human beings, including lifting moods, reducing anxiety, improving memory and connecting with others. Children who are blind or visually impaired currently face barriers…
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Scott Flagel, Lighthouse of Collier CEO was elected Treasurer of the Board of Directors for Florida Agencies Serving the Blind (Florida ASB). This is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)3 consortium of 17 not-for-profit agencies serving the blind. It is considered a national leader in setting standards and best practices for providing services to the blind. Learn…
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Two staff became certified! Congratulations to Jennifer Nieves and Phyllis Dratnol whom both are now Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (CVRT). Stephany Estremadoiro promoted to Intake Specialist Stephany Estremadoiro has been promoted to Intake Specialist (also known as Case Manager). She is responsible for the initial contact with the potential client, and for conducting a detailed…
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Lighthouse of Collier’s annual summer camps are approaching! The Children’s Summer Camp will be hosted virtually June 14 through July 2, MWF 9am – 2pm. The camp will consist of daily career presentations from guest speakers, as well as cooking, and arts and crafts, activities with an “Around the World” theme. The goal of the…
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Wanda is an 81-year-old client that 1st came to Lighthouse of Collier at the end of September, 2020. She has Age-Related Macular Degeneration as well an autoimmune disorder which affects her bones, muscles, skin, and joints severely limiting her physical mobility. She came to the Lighthouse primarily looking for help using her iPad. The iPad served as her primary piece of assistive technology as she had given up using her laptop computer. It was her communication lifeline to her family and friends who lived far away but she could no longer read the print on the screen.
After an assessment of Wanda’s needs, it was apparent to the instructor that keeping Wanda in communication with her family and friends was of the utmost importance. It was obvious that the iPad was not what Wanda needed. The instructor inspected Wanda’s laptop. The laptop was the answer. The instructor explained to Wanda that hooking up a large screen computer monitor and a large print keyboard to her existing laptop would increase her visual access to digital communication. Additionally, she would have full use of her computer again.
Wanda explained that her grandson would be visiting her. The instructor offered to work with the family to help guide them in purchasing the necessary equipment. Over the holidays, the family bought the equipment and had it sent to her. Her grandson set up the screen and gave her a mouse in the shape of pen that would allow her to have greater control over the cursor placement.
The instructor visited Wanda in early January and connected her large print keyboard. The instructor then went into the computer settings and found the visual accessibility settings. Working with Wanda, the instructor increased the overall size of the digital information, both pictures and font size. Additional adjustments were made to fine tune the font size and improve contrast. Wanda was then instructed on how to best utilize and navigate her computer. After instruction, Wanda demonstrated that she could again use her computer not only for correspondence, but also for using her Amazon Prime account. She could again pick out music, books, and videos.
The Lighthouse of Collier serves the whole person and works closely with family to ensure that independence is maintained. Wanda is so relieved and happy that she again has access to all the digital communication she thought she would never have again.
