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Lighthouse International
For more than 106 years, Lighthouse International has led the charge in the fight against vision loss through prevention, treatment and empowerment. Our founders, Winifred and Edith Holt, blazed a trail of firsts and opened up new doors of opportunity for people without sight. Today, we’re proud to continue the Holt legacy on behalf of all those who look to the Lighthouse as a beacon of hope today — and will for many years to come.
Services & Assistance:
Low Vision Services: Our low vision specialists perform functional vision examinations using specialized testing procedures to maximize your vision. These tests include:
Traditional visual acuity tests at far and near distances
Contrast tests
Evaluations to determine how well a patient sees faces, street signs, newspaper print and all the other visual cues
Our Early Intervention Program, a unique pediatric clinic, is also available for the examination of infants and children with early onset vision loss.
Assitive Technology Training:
Assistive Technology Center- Lighthouse International offers training designed to help people with vision impairment maintain a productive lifestyle.
Training is designed to assist you with the application of the most current assistive technology. These tools allow you to fully utilize today's computer technology.
Training that teaches or refines skills with screen readers and/or text enlarging software, using business application software and accessing the internet and email.
This service is available in our New York City headquarters. All training is administered in fully equipped classrooms with one student per computer.
Orientation & Mobility Training:
If you've experienced vision loss, you may feel uncomfortable about your safety and be reluctant to travel because of the reduced ability to detect visual clues. Professional skills training provided by an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructor can help you, whether you have reduced, or no, vision.
Lighthouse O&M instructors can assess your skills, and teach you techniques to get around independently and for navigating your home, neighborhood and work environments. These include:
Methods for gathering information from your surroundings that may have been gathered previously by just looking around
Methods for making your home safe
Techniques for climbing stairs, avoiding falls and injuries, crossing streets, travel within your community, riding buses and taking the subway
Some of the orientation and mobility problems you may experience include:
Loss of depth perception — making it difficult to identify how high or low a step or curb is
Loss of contrast sensitivity — making it hard to see curbs or steps, or not being able to differentiate between a puddle or a hole in the sidewalk
Color or distance problems — making it difficult to determine if the "walk" signal is on or off, or the writing on street signs
Seeing spots that block central vision — making it hard to identify landmarks or detect obstacles in one's path
Loss of visual field — making it problematic to move around easily due to restricted peripheral vision
Inability to see and identify faces — making it possibly embarrassing when talking to, or ignoring, a person nearby
To move about confidently and safely, you can learn to utilize any, or all, of the following: your remaining vision and other senses, another person, a white cane or a dog guide. The method(s) chosen will be determined by your current visual status, the ability to detect dangerous obstacles (such as stairs, curbs, moving vehicles or people) in enough time to react safely and, of course, personal preference.
Occupational Therapy:
Occupational Therapy promotes a person's ability to independently participate in activities that bring meaning and purpose to their life.
At Lighthouse International, occupational therapists work with people of all ages with a variety of diagnoses such as stroke, cardiac conditions, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, arthritis, macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Our occupational therapists work with the visually impaired in a large variety of settings such as low vision clinics, schools, hospitals, nursing facilities, the workplace and in people's homes. They collaborate and work with other low vision professionals to reduce the impact of vision loss and promote independence.
Our occupational therapists focus on a number of areas that affect a person's functional ability. These include:
Training and education of visual devices
Visual skills training
Treatment of sensory motor impairments
Modifying your environment for appropriate lighting and contrast, glare control and ergonomics
Adapting grooming and dressing techniques for people affected by strokes
Participation in leisure activities
Individually designed home exercise programs
Creating and teaching the use of a memory book for people affected by dementia
Collaboration with school personnel and families for students with learning disabilities
Instruction in energy conservation techniques for those with cardiac conditions
Training people with arthritis in the use of joint protection principles for daily tasks
Our occupational therapists also focus on Home Safety and Fall Prevention.
Identifying fall hazards
Making recommendations for safety equipment
Examining lighting in the kitchen, doorways and stairs
Recommend increased contrast in potential fall areas
Early Intervention: Lighthouse International's Early Intervention Program is dedicated to helping children with visual impairments and/or developmental delays from birth to three years of age.
We work hand in hand with parents and caregivers to provide expert evaluations, therapy and support. Our team of multilingual, highly trained, certified teachers and therapists customize services to meet the individual needs of children. Our professionals foster learning and the development of critical early childhood skills through the following high-quality services.
Service Coordination
Multidisciplinary Evaluations
Functional Vision Assessment
Vision Service
Orientation & Mobility
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Speech Therapy
Social Work Service
Special Instruction
Family Training
Nutrition Service
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