Department of Social Services
25 Sigourney Street, 11th Floor
Hartford, CT 06106
800-842-1508
800-842-4542 (TDD/TTY)
www.dss.state.ct.us/divs/brs.htm
Programs for People with Disabilities

184 Windsor Avenue
Windsor, CT 06095
800-842-4510 (Toll free)
860-602-4000
860-602-4221 (TDD)
860-602-4020 (Fax)
www.besb.state.ct.us
E-mail: BESB@PO.STATE.CT.US

The mission of the Board of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB) is to provide quality educational and rehabilitative services to all people who are legally blind or deaf-blind and children who are visually impaired at no cost to our clients or their families.

BESB is responsible for the confidential registry of people who are blind in Connecticut and provides, within available resources, comprehensive low vision services, specialized education services, life skills training, case management, and vocational services to individuals of all ages who are legally blind and to children who are visually impaired.

The agency assists them in acquiring the skills and support services necessary to be independent.

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 first affiliate communities include Charleston, S.C.; Chicago, Ill.; Portland, Maine; Orlando, Fla; Los Angeles, Calif.; Lexington, Ky; San Diego, Calif.; Enfield, Middlesex, Middletown and Fairfield County, Conn.; Sarasota, Fla.; the Quad Cities of Iowa; Cincinnati, Ohio; Las Vegas, NV; Racine, WI; St. Charles, MO.

P.O. Box 43
Colchester, CT 06415
866-255-8655 (Toll free)
www.lionslowvision.com
Office locations

The mission of the Lions Low Vision Center of Eastern Connecticut is to provide appropriate low vision devices and empower people with decreased vision to improve their quality of life or maintain their independence.

The Lions Low Vision Center of Eastern Connecticut provides services to individuals in New London, Middlesex, Tolland, and Windham Counties. Services are rendered without charge.

The center is staffed by a technician trained in optimizing a client's remaining eyesight through the use of magnification, glare control, proper lighting, specialized reading techniques, and referral to additional supportive agencies. The technician dispenses low vision aids and trains individuals to use these devices to enhance remaining vision.

33 Highland Street
New Britain, CT 06050
800-676-5715 (Toll free)
860-832-9601
860-832-9604 (Fax)
www.lionslowvision.org  
E-mail: lions_low_vision@sbcglobal.net
Office locations 

The staff at the Lions Low Vision Center can teach the visually impaired person new ways to utilize remaining eyesight, by providing the necessary aids and devices that can increase independence and ease activities of daily living.

All clients must be under the care of an eye care provider and must have a report from that provider in order to be seen by the Lions Low Vision Center.

22 Masonic Avenue
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-679-5900
www.masonicare.org/healthcare_services

Offers a wide range of geriatric-focused inpatient and outpatient healthcare services, including low vision services, hearing testing, rehabilitation services, and mental and behavioral health services.

National Resource Center for Blind Musicians
510 Barnum Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06608
203-366-3300
203-368-2847 (Fax)
www.musicandartscenter.org
E-mail: info@musicandartscenter.org

The resource center provides information and referral services for visually impaired students of all ages, their parents and teachers; learning opportunities for blind students headed to college; and maintains a network of visually impaired musicians willing to share their expertise in braille music, technology, and coping strategies.

The Eleanor A. Brooks Blindness-Related Supports Center at Oak Hill
E-mail: info@ciboakhill.org

Housing information:
866-526-4492 (Toll free)
860-286-3105
860-286-3113 (TTY)

Vocational center and community support information:
866-526-4492 (Toll free)
860-286-3100
860-286-3113 (TTY)

Oak Hill program participants are empowered to achieve self-sufficiency. Oak Hill continues its commitment to people whose primary disability is blindness through the development of independent housing opportunities, community supports, and the vocational center.

40 Woodland Street
Hartford, CT 06112
860-727-5727
www.weavingcenter.org
E-mail: HA@weavingcenter.org

The mission of the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center is to promote and teach the craft of handweaving in a supportive and creative community. The Center encourages people with low or no vision and those 55 and older to develop their skills and interest in weaving original and beautiful handwoven items.

470 West Main Street
Cheshire, CT 06410
203-271-1944
www.visiondynamics.com
E-mail: info@visiondynamics.com

Vision Dynamics offers a wide range of adaptive devices, software, and accessories specifically designed for use by blind or visually impaired individuals, including adaptive computers, Windows access software, speech synthesizers, refreshable braille products, voice recognition software, screen magnification software, CCTV products, labeling and marking, large print, lighting, low vision products, magnification, talking products, writing and reading aids.

The Lions Low Vision Center at Yale
40 Temple Street, 3rd Floor
New Haven, CT 06510
800-395-7949 (Toll free)
203-785-2020
203-785-6123 (Fax)
www.eyes.yale.edu/patient-care/low-vision.aspx

Yale's low vision rehabilitation program offers services not readily available to individuals whose vision cannot be improved with ordinary glasses, medicine, or surgery.