About First Aid
for the Blind

This organization was created to provide training of independent living skills for newly blinded or visually impaired individuals. “First Aid” is included in the name of the organization for a good reason. Experts all agree that the sooner an individual has a reason for hope, the better chance they have of fending off feelings of depression or anxiety regarding their new circumstance.

 

Several years ago, the U.S. Department of Education ended sponsorship of blind or vision-impaired individuals who were not seeking employment after their independent Living Skills training. FAFTB is here to fill that resource gap for a large number of individuals in the blind or vision-impaired community.

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Many recent technology changes have come about that permit the condensing of several months of training into a single week of focused lessons. These trainings come from standard rehabilitation centers and show alternate ways of accomplishing everyday tasks without the use of vision. The 25 individual lessons that FAFTB uses have been carefully selected from a pool of over 1,000 potential topics. These lessons have been selected because they contain the most important and relevant information that every newly blinded or vision-impaired individual needs to live the most robust, independent life. The lessons are utilized by a qualified FAFTB trainer who leads the face-to-face discussions through Zoom. The lessons are specifically sequenced so that each one builds upon the previous one. Clients receive recordings of their lessons on a flash drive so that they can review the material as needed.

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Clients are encouraged to have a Training Buddy take the FAFTB lessons with them. The Training Buddy provides friendly support and comfort throughout the curriculum and can help the client practice skills or recall lessons after the training has been completed. If the Training Buddy happens to be a regular member of the client’s support network, that person will be better informed and feel more confident about their visually-impaired loved one living independently. The more knowledge that a client and his or her support network possess, the lower their levels of anxiety and depression.

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Client payment is based on a sliding scale and is determined by their financial situation in conjunction with any available scholarship funds that have been made available through donations and grants.