20 Main Street, Suite G2
Acton, MA 01720
800-681-5909 (Toll free)
978-635-0202
253-595-3623 (Fax)
www.abisee.com
E-mail: info@abisee.com

ABiSee is a developer of hi-tech products and assistive reading and magnification devices for people who are blind, have low vision, and are deaf-blind.

681 Falmouth Road, Deer Crossing C-14
Mashpee, MA 02649
877-255-2260 (Toll free)
508-539-2030
www.AudibleLocalLedger.org
E-mail: AllRadio@verizon.net

The Audible Local Ledger, Inc. is a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) affiliate of the Massachusetts Radio Reading Service, a special state-wide radio information network that provides readings of daily and weekly newspapers, current periodicals, shopping guides, best selling books, calendars of community events, and other materials previously available only in print. The Audible Local Ledger broadcasts this material over closed-circuit radio stations to the blind, visually impaired, and print disabled residents of Cape Cod and the Islands.

65-B Town Hall Square
Falmouth, MA 02540
508-540-0800
508-548-6116 (Fax)
http://home.capecod.net/~braillinc
E-mail: braillinc@capecod.net

Braille Co., Inc., is a professional braille publishing company that specializes in transcription services for vocational and educational needs.

Braille Co., Inc. is capable of transcribing all languages using the Roman, Greek, or Cyrillic alphabet into literary, mathematics, computer, or music braille and can produce textbooks, workbooks, computer manuals, training guides, complex regulatory manuals, schedules, charts, graphs, and tables.

770 Centre Street
Newton, MA 02458
800-852-3131 (Toll free)
617-969-6200
www.carroll.org  
E-mail: info@carroll.org  

The Carroll Center serves the needs of blind and visually impaired persons by providing rehabilitation, skills training, and educational opportunities to achieve independence, self-sufficiency, and self-fulfillment and by educating the public regarding the potential of persons who are blind and visually impaired.

Established in 1936, the Center has pioneered innovative methods for blind persons to gain independence in their homes, in class settings, and in their work places. New and evolving technologies, combined with time-tested adaptive methods, individualized instruction, and personalized therapies developed by the Carroll Center staff, have provided thousands of blind and vision impaired persons with diverse opportunities for success and independent living.

Carroll Tech is a web-based distance learning service intended to assist blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as to train education and rehabilitation professionals. Instruction is offered in access technologies such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, braille embossers, note-takers, and scanners. Each course is comprised of text, videos, exercises, quizzes, and chat sessions.

23 East Brundreth Street
Springfield, MA 01109
413-781-2274
www.choroideremia.org
E-mail contacts

The Choroideremia Research Foundation, Inc. is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to find a treatment or cure for Choroideremia, a rare inherited retinal degenerative disease that causes blindness.

Meet Josh Crary, a 23-year-old senior and resident advisor at the University of New Hampshire who also has CHM.

Pier 4, Charlestown Navy Yard
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-268-7243
Courageous Sailing Adaptive Sailing Program web site

Courageous Sailing is the largest organization of its kind in the Boston area to offer free sailing programs and activities to people with autism, developmental disabilities, blindness, and diabetes. While sailing in Boston Harbor, participants build skills in teamwork, physical coordination, self-reliance, leadership, and technical knowledge.

270 Littleton Road, Unit 6
Westford, MA 01886-3523
978-692-3000
978-692-7912 (Fax)
www.duxsys.com
E-mail: orders@duxsys.com

Duxbury Systems produces the Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT) and MegaDots, used by many of the world's leading braille publishers. DBT supports grade 1 and grade 2 braille translation in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Malaysian, Swedish, and other languages. Duxbury software can produce contracted and uncontracted braille, mathematics, and technical braille.

Amherst Office:
22 University Drive
Amherst, MA 01002
413-549-9400
www.wadmaneye.com
E-mail: amherst@wadmaneye.com

Greenfield Office:
489 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
413-772-2571
www.wadmaneye.com
E-mail: greenfield@wadmaneye.com

Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults
National Office Headquarters:
141 Middle Neck Road
Sands Point, NY 11050-1218
Switchboard hours: 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
516-944-8900 (Voice)
516-944-8908 (VP)
516-944-8637 (TTY)
516-944-7302 (Fax)
E-mail: hkncinfo@hknc.org

Regional Representative contact information: www.hknc.org/FieldServicesREGREPADD.htm

The Center provides services to youth and adults who are deaf-blind according to the definition of deaf-blindness in the Helen Keller Act. The national center in New York and regional offices that serve each state provide advocacy, support groups, information, and services to people who have both a vision and a hearing loss.

The mission of the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC) is to enable each person who is deaf-blind to live and work in his or her community of choice. Authorized by an Act of Congress in 1967, the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults is a national rehabilitation program serving youth and adults who are deaf-blind.

90 Bridge Street, Suite 100
Westbrook, ME 04092
207-857-9001
207-857-9199 (Fax)
www.itnamerica.org
Send E-mail to ITNAmerica

ITNAmerica is a national non-profit organization that provides transportation to seniors and adults with visual impairments. ITNAmerica provides rides with door-through-door, arm-through-arm service and allows older people to trade their own cars to pay for rides and enables volunteer drivers to store transportation credits for their own future transportation needs.

ITNAmerica's affiliate communities include Charleston, SC; Chicago, IL; Portland, ME; Orlando, Sarasota, FL; Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey CA; Lexington, KY; Enfield, Middlesex, Middletown, and Fairfield County, CT; the Quad Cities of IA; Cincinnati, OH; Las Vegas, NV; Racine, WI; St. Charles, Kansas City MO; Westchester County, NY; Boston, Framingham MA

169 Merrimack Street, 2nd Floor
Lowell, MA 01852
978-454-5704
www.lowellassociationfortheblind.org
E-mail: labinfo@lowellassociationfortheblind.org

Lowell Association for the Blind (LAB) is a non-profit, community-based organization that is dedicated to working with people who are blind and visually impaired.

Programs and services include:

• Youth program for blind and visually impaired children, ages 5 to 14
• Senior youth program for blind and visually impaired youth ages 15 to 21
• Adult programs meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at LAB for variety of activities including crafts, field trips, guest speakers, community information and resources, cooking demonstrations, and adaptive equipment demonstrations. 
• LAB Radio Reading Service is a radio station that provides the reading of daily newspapers by local volunteers. 
• Low vision and adaptive equipment
• Training programs for adaptive equipment, computers, the Internet, and software programs
• Information and referral services
• Retrievers Beep Baseball Team

200 Ivy Street
Brookline, MA 02446
617-738-5110
617-738-1247 (Fax)
www.mabcommunity.org
E-mail: webmaster@mabcommunity.org  

Founded in 1903, MAB Community Services is the oldest social service agency in the country providing services to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Since that time, MAB has broadened its scope to include services for adults with developmental disabilities and adolescents with brain injuries.

MAB offers a multidisciplinary rehabilitation approach to helping elders, adults, and adolescents with disabilities live full and meaningful lives in their communities:

• Brain Injury Services: Comprehensive educational and treatment services to adolescents overcoming the challenges imposed by brain injury or other neurological difficulties
• Developmental Disability Community Services: Supports in a range of residential and vocational settings
• Vision Community Services: Through peer, professional and volunteer support, people with vision impairments gain the skills and spirit of independent living.
• MABWorks: A vocational training program

48 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116-4718
800-392-6450 (Voice toll free MA only)
617-727-5550
800-392-6556 (TDD toll free MA only)
617-626-7685 (Fax)
www.mass.gov/mcb
E-mail contacts

Programs and services include:

• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Independent Living Social Services
• Assistive Technology for the Blind Program
• Specialized Services for Specific Populations
• Rehabilitation Teaching
• Orientation and Mobility
• Medical Assistance 
• Vending Facility Program
• Ferguson Industries for the Blind
• Consumer Assistance and Program Support (CAPS)

Healthy Aging, Health and Disability Unit
250 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02108
617-624-5070
617-624-5992 (TTY)
617-624-5075 (Fax)
E-mail: anita.albright@state.ma.us

The Office of Healthy Aging of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health fosters healthy aging for the Commonwealth's population by planning, advocating, coordinating and administering programs and policies that assure access to quality health care and enhance opportunities for older people to learn about and take responsibility for their own health.

243 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-523-7900
617-523-5498 (TDD)
www.meei.harvard.edu

Vision Rehabilitation Service
617-573-4177

Directed by Mary Lou Jackson, M.D., an ophthalmologist with specific interest in vision rehabilitation, the Center's committed staff of technicians and occupational therapists understand the impact of irreversible vision loss on patients and their families.

Services include:

• A comprehensive low vision evaluation
• Information about beneficial visual aids, ranging from simple magnifiers to innovative optical devices or technologies, video camera magnifiers, or computers with magnification or speech output 
• Training in using residual vision
• In-home daily living skills training

The Glaucoma Foundation also sponsors a Glaucoma Support and Education Group at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Administrative Offices
27 Wormwood Street
Boston, MA 02210-1616
800-245-6543 (Voice/TDD)
617-204-3600
617-727-1354 (Fax)
www.mass.gov/mrc
Contact information

The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission is responsible for Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Community Services, and eligibility determination for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefits programs.

National Braille Press
88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
888-965-8965 (Toll free)
617-266-6160
617-437-0456 (Fax)

National Braille Press (NBP) is a nonprofit braille printer and publisher offering braille books, magazines, textbooks, tests, and customized embossing services.

The National Braille Press Bookstore has books for adults and children, print books for sighted teachers and parents, and braille gifts. 

Everything Braille provides sources of braille publications, adaptive technology, tactile graphics, braille fun and games, and braille music.

Mika Pyyhkala, President
617-752-1116
http://nfbma.org
Contact information

The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is two-fold: to help blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind.

The NFB of Massachusetts has active chapters in Brockton, Cambridge, Springfield, and Worcester. MassABS, our local student division, provides resources and networking for those pursuing studies in the Commonwealth.

Vision Rehabilitation Service
Tufts University School of Medicine
260 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02111
800-231-3316 (Toll free)
617-636-4600
617-636-4866 (Fax)
Web site

The Vision Rehabilitation Service provides a complete low vision evaluation that determines visual function under various conditions and assesses each patient's visual requirements for work or home activities.

Additional services include:

• Selection of electronic visual aids
• A Pediatric Vision Rehabilitation Program, including specialized low vision evaluation and rehabilitation for children and adolescents
• A consulting service regarding driving rehabilitation or driving cessations, as needed.

940 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
617-262-2020
www.ne-eyeinstitute.org

The New England Eye Institute is a network of eye care centers and programs that reach out to the community with tailored programs for diverse populations.

The network features a range of programs for special populations such as children, the elderly, the homeless, and individuals who are either physically or mentally challenged.

New England Eye's doctors provide eye care to a wide range of populations at 44 health care facilities located throughout Massachusetts.

Perkins School for the Blind
175 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-924-3434
E-mail: info@perkins.org

The Perkins Scout is a comprehensive resource for information about blindness and visual impairments. Topics include general information on blindness, resources for persons who are 55+, help for families, cooking and kitchen safety, gardening, orientation and mobility, adjusting to blindness, transition, and many other resources for educators and other professionals.

22 Bonad Road
Winchester, MA 01890
781-368-9094
781-368-9096 (Fax)
www.rfr.org 
E-mail: info@rfr.org

Publishes a wide range of publications that enable people with disabilities and chronic conditions to remain independent:

• Individuals with a disability or chronic condition
• The parent of a child with a disability
• The adult offspring of an older parent with one or more disabilities
• A professional service provider

Also produces a series of large print materials designed for distribution to clients and patients.

20 Staniford Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-912-0100
www.schepens.harvard.edu
Contact information

Schepens Eye Research Institute fights blindness by developing new technologies, therapies, and knowledge to retain and restore vision. Through a continuum of discovery, the Institute works toward a future in which blindness is prevented, alleviated, and, ultimately, cured.

Founded in 1950 by retinal surgeon Charles L. Schepens, M.D., Schepens Eye Research Institute is the largest independent eye research institute in the nation and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

P.O. Box 414
87 School Street
West Dennis, MA 02670
800-427-6842 (Toll free MA only)
508-394-3904
www.sightloss.org
E-mail: sightloss@verizon.net

Sight Loss Services, Inc., Cape Cod and Islands (Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket) is a non-profit, human service organization offering peer support, information and referral, education and awareness, outreach, and home independence training to people who are learning to cope and function safely and independently with the loss of sight.

Based on a “peer support and self-help” philosophy, Sight Loss Services aims to foster an individual's sense of self-worth and independence and to point the way for him/her to help others.

Sight Loss Service’s programs include:

• Self-Help Support Groups
• Adaptive Aids
• Information and Referral
• Education and Awareness
• Outreach and Independence Services

130 Enterprise Drive
P.O. Box 519
Marshfield, MA 02050
800-696-9505 (Toll free)
781-834-4400
781-834-7716 (Fax)
http://ticnetwork.org
E-mail: general@ticnetwork.com

The Talking Information Center (TIC) is a radio reading service that broadcasts the reading of printed material over an extensive network of commercial and noncommercial radio and cable TV outlets. TIC carries events and meetings of interest from locations across Massachusetts. TIC also provides annual live coverage of the Bay State Council of the Blind and National Federation of the Blind state conventions.

464 Hillside Avenue, Suite 205
Needham, MA 02494
781-726-7337
781-726-7333 (Appointments)
www.bostonsight.org
E-mail: info@bostonsight.org

The mission of The Boston Foundation for Sight (BFS) is to improve the quality of life for patients and families worldwide by transforming the understanding, treatment and care of complex corneal disease.

Since 1994, BFS has been an innovative leader in the research and treatment of corneal conditions, as well as an educator of future eye care professionals.

Their pioneering treatment model, PROSE (prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem), can restore vision, support healing, reduce symptoms, and improve quality of life for people with complex corneal conditions, including Stevens Johnson syndrome, severe dry eye, chronic ocular graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), and keratoconus.

MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
http://web.mit.edu/bcs/sinha/home.html
E-mail: psinha@mit.edu

The goal of the research in the Sinha Laboratory is to understand how the brain recognizes objects, scenes and sequences. The approaches used to address this issue include experimentation with humans and computational modeling.

The goal of Project Prakash is to bring light into the lives of curably blind children and, in so doing, illuminate some of the most fundamental scientific questions about how the brain develops and learns to see.

333 Elm Street
Dedham, MA 02026
800-793-9227 (Toll free)
781-461-8200
781-461-8213 (Fax)
www.tobiiati.com
E-mail: customercare@tobiiati.com

Tobii Assistive Technology, Inc. (Tobii ATI) is a developer of innovative hardware and software solutions for people with disabilities, including eye tracking and eye control products and alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) solutions that help individuals with speech impairments communicate.

Digital Audio Books for the Blind
Tom Peters, Project Coordinator
6106 South Stillhouse Road
Oak Grove, MO 64075
816-616-6746
www.unabridged.info
E-mail: tpeters@tapinformation.com
State contact information: www.unabridged.info/contact.htm

Unabridged provides narrated downloadable digital audio books for eligible individuals living in California, Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont who are blind, visually impaired, or physically challenged.

The goal of Unabridged is to develop and evaluate a multi-state program that provides a downloadable library of narrated digital audio book content and services to blind, low vision, and physically challenged library users in the participating states.

The Unabridged collection contains thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles. Current popular fiction is the strength of the collection. There are books for children, tweens, and teens, as well as old-time radio programs.

www.va.gov 
Contact the VA

The mission of the Veterans' Healthcare System (VHA) is to serve the needs of America's veterans by providing primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support services. Approximately a quarter of the nation's population -- approximately 70 million people -- are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.

Facilities Locator Home Page: 
Use this search feature to locate VA facility-related information quickly and accurately.

Fact Sheets about VA Services:
Use this search feature to locate VA News Releases and Fact Sheets on topics that include health care and benefits.

Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Veterans:
The mission of the VA Blind Rehabilitation Service is to coordinate a healthcare service delivery system that provides a continuum of care for blinded veterans extending from their home environment to the local VA facility and to the appropriate rehabilitation setting.

Visual Impairment Service Team (VIST):
The Visual Impairment Service Team (VIST) Coordinator serves as the initial contact person for getting help with vision loss. VIST Coordinators are located at local VA Medical Centers across the country. They work to ensure that veterans with visual impairments receive appropriate benefits and services.

The VIST Coordinator is a case manager who has major responsibility for the coordination of all services for legally blind veterans and their families. Duties include providing and/or arranging for the provision of appropriate treatment plans and programs in order to enhance a blinded veteran's functioning level.

Other duties include identifying new cases of blindness, providing professional counseling, resolving problems, arranging annual healthcare reviews, and conducting education programs relating to blindness.

Services for blind and visually impaired veterans include:

• Orientation and Mobility
• Independent Living Skills
• Manual Skills
• Visual Skills and Low Vision Services
• Computer Access Training
• Physical Conditioning
• Recreation
• Adjustment to Blindness
• Family Program

34 Crest Road Way
Sharon, MA 02067
781-784-3320
781-784-3520 (Fax)
www.visionsofindependence.com
E-mail: EFeldman@visionsofindependence.com

Visions of Independence provides specially trained therapists to work with low vision elders in their homes and teach new ways to perform everyday tasks. They have resources available to teach daily living skills to those elders who are visually impaired but not necessarily legally blind.